CVE-2025-38129VulnerabilityPublished 23 Feb 2026Updated 10 Sep 2026

Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-rt security update

Affects Red HatSource GCVE Database

Mentioned vulnerabilities

Not known to be exploited · patch available : patch Red Hat soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

Severity

High

Rated by Threat Radar · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 9% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 23 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hatredhat/kernel`pkg:rpm/redhat/kernel`Other threats	Affected =8.10	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

Red Hat has released an official security update for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 that addresses these vulnerabilities. Users should apply the kernel update as provided by Red Hat and reboot their systems to ensure the fixes take effect. For detailed update instructions, refer to https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor.

Description

The kernel-rt packages provide the Real Time Linux Kernel, which enables fine-tuning for systems with extremely high determinism requirements. Security Fix(es): * kernel: page_pool: Fix use-after-free in page_pool_recycle_in_ring (CVE-2025-38129) * kernel: Linux kernel:A use-after-free in bridge multicast in br_multicast_port_ctx_init (CVE-2025-38248) * kernel: smc: Fix use-after-free in __pnet_find_base_ndev() (CVE-2025-40064) * kernel: mlxsw: spectrum_mr: Fix use-after-free when updating multicast route stats (CVE-2025-68800) * kernel: Linux kernel: Use-after-free in teql queueing discipline can lead to privilege escalation (CVE-2026-23074) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-38129 could result in use-after-free conditions, potentially leading to system instability or privilege escalation. CVE-2025-40269 could allow an attacker to cause information disclosure or denial of service via a buffer overflow in the ALSA USB audio driver. The overall security impact is rated as moderate by Red Hat. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.

Summary

The Red Hat kernel security update fixes a use-after-free vulnerability in the page_pool_recycle_in_ring function (CVE-2025-38129) and a buffer overflow in the ALSA USB audio driver (CVE-2025-40269) that could cause information disclosure and denial of service. The advisory covers Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 variants including Extended Life Cycle Long Life and Update Services for SAP Solutions on x86_64 and ppc64le architectures. The vendor rates the impact as moderate and recommends applying the update and rebooting affected systems. No CVSS scores are provided in the advisory; users are directed to CVE pages for further details.

CWE-825Expired Pointer Dereference (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product dereferences a pointer that contains a location for memory that was previously valid, but is no longer valid.
Architecture and Design
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-763Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product attempts to return a memory resource to the system, but it calls the wrong release function or calls the appropriate release function incorrectly.
Implementation
Only call matching memory management functions. Do not mix and match routines. For example, when you allocate a buffer with malloc(), dispose of the original pointer with free().
Implementation
When programming in C++, consider using smart pointers provided by the boost library to help correctly and consistently manage memory.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-364Signal Handler Race Condition (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product uses a signal handler that introduces a race condition.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design
Design signal handlers to only set flags, rather than perform complex functionality. These flags can then be checked and acted upon within the main program loop.
Implementation
Only use reentrant functions within signal handlers. Also, use validation to ensure that state is consistent while performing asynchronous actions that affect the state of execution.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.11.2 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-366Race Condition within a Thread (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
If two threads of execution use a resource simultaneously, there exists the possibility that resources may be used while invalid, in turn making the state of execution undefined.
Architecture and Design
Use locking functionality. This is the recommended solution. Implement some form of locking mechanism around code which alters or reads persistent data in a multithreaded environment.
Architecture and Design
Create resource-locking validation checks. If no inherent locking mechanisms exist, use flags and signals to enforce your own blocking scheme when resources are being used by other threads of execution.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.11.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)
Leveraging Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-826Premature Release of Resource During Expected Lifetime (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product releases a resource that is still intended to be used by itself or another actor.
CWE-416Use After Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #7
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Jul 2026, 10:18 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-825, CWE-763, CWE-364 +3

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats