CVE-2025-22097VulnerabilityPublished 11 Sep 2025Updated 11 Oct 2026

SUSE · security update for kernel

Affects SUSESource GCVE Database

Mentioned vulnerabilities

Not known to be exploited : upgrade to 9.8 soon.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

Severity

High

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 9.8

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 11 Sep 2025
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 2026-10-25.

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

Upgrade redhat/kernel to 9.8.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hatredhat/kernel`pkg:rpm/redhat/kernel`Other threats	Affected =9 <9.8	Fixed in 9.8

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A security update patch is available from Red Hat and should be applied promptly. The update is included in kernel packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and related variants. After applying the update, a system reboot is required for the fixes to take effect. Refer to the Red Hat advisory RHSA-2025:15661 for detailed instructions.

Description

Multiple security vulnerabilities have been identified and fixed in the Linux kernel packages used by Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and related distributions. These include use-after-free and double free errors in the drm/vkms component, improper memory handling in the scsi lpfc driver, a race condition in posix CPU timers, and reference handling issues in drm/gem framebuffers. The update addresses these issues to improve kernel security and stability. A reboot is required after applying the update for changes to take effect.

Impact

The vulnerabilities could lead to memory corruption issues such as use-after-free, double free, and race conditions within the kernel, potentially affecting system stability and security. The issues impact core kernel components related to graphics (drm/vkms, drm/gem), SCSI device handling (lpfc), and CPU timers (posix-cpu-timers). Exploitation could result in denial of service or escalation of privileges, though no known exploits are reported in the wild at this time.

Summary

This security update for the Linux kernel addresses four vulnerabilities: CVE-2025-22097 fixes a use-after-free and double free on initialization error in drm/vkms; CVE-2025-38332 corrects the use of memcpy() for BIOS version handling in the scsi lpfc driver; CVE-2025-38352 resolves a race condition between handle_posix_cpu_timers() and posix_cpu_timer_del(); and CVE-2025-38449 ensures proper acquisition of references on GEM handles for framebuffers in drm/gem. These fixes are included in updated kernel packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and require a system reboot.

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).
CWE-170Improper Null Termination (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product does not terminate or incorrectly terminates a string or array with a null character or equivalent terminator.
Requirements
Use a language that is not susceptible to these issues. However, be careful of null byte interaction errors (CWE-626) with lower-level constructs that may be written in a language that is susceptible.
Implementation
Ensure that all string functions used are understood fully as to how they append null characters. Also, be wary of off-by-one errors when appending nulls to the end of strings.
Implementation
If performance constraints permit, special code can be added that validates null-termination of string buffers, this is a rather naive and error-prone solution.
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-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.
Architecture and Design
In languages that support it, use synchronization primitives. Only wrap these around critical code to minimize the impact on performance.
Architecture and Design
Use thread-safe capabilities such as the data access abstraction in Spring.
Architecture and Design
Minimize the usage of shared resources in order to remove as much complexity as possible from the control flow and to reduce the likelihood of unexpected conditions occurring.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Secure Design Principles (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).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Oct 2026, 22:23 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-416, CWE-170, CWE-362

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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