CVE-2025-38352VulnerabilityPublished 4 Mar 2026Updated 12 Oct 2026

Security update for the Linux Kernel RT (Live Patch 0 for SUSE Linux Enterprise 16)

Affects SUSESource GCVE Database

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 25 Sep 2025 · 1% EPSS : upgrade to 10.2 now.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

Exploitation

Actively exploited

High severity · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

KEV deadline: 25 Sep 2025 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else.
EPSS: 1.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 71% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 10.2

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Mar 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: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 181 days before disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
2025-09-04, 181 days before disclosure
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
2025-09-25, 160 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
2026-03-0410:13Z, t = 0

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (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 10.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Red Hatredhat/kernel`pkg:rpm/redhat/kernel`Other threats	Affected =10.0 <10.2 >=10.2	Fixed in 10.2

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

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Description

A race condition vulnerability in the Linux kernel's POSIX CPU timers subsystem (CVE-2025-38352) has been fixed. The flaw involves a race between handle_posix_cpu_timers() and posix_cpu_timer_del() functions, which can cause failures in timer deletion and task handling under certain exit conditions. This issue affects multiple Linux distributions including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 and SUSE Linux Enterprise. A security update is available and requires a system reboot to apply.

Impact

The vulnerability can cause failures in POSIX CPU timer deletion and task handling due to a race condition, potentially leading to improper task cleanup or kernel instability. The severity is rated as high by the vendor. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.

Mitigation

A security update patch is available from Red Hat and SUSE. Applying the updated kernel package and rebooting the system is required to remediate this vulnerability. Refer to the vendor advisories and update instructions at https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258. No additional mitigation is necessary beyond applying the official fix.

Summary

CVE-2025-38352 addresses a race condition in the Linux kernel's POSIX CPU timers implementation. Specifically, if an exiting non-autoreaping task has passed exit_notify() and handle_posix_cpu_timers() is called from an interrupt context, the task can be reaped by its parent or debugger immediately after unlock_task_sighand(). Concurrent execution of posix_cpu_timer_del() at this moment may fail to detect the timer firing state, causing cpu_timer_task_rcu() and/or lock_task_sighand() to fail. The fix adds a check for the task's exit_state in run_posix_cpu_timers() to prevent this race. This fix is unnecessary if CONFIG_POSIX_CPU_TIMERS_TASK_WORK=y is set, but the check is retained for robustness. The vulnerability affects various kernel versions in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 and SUSE Linux Enterprise, among others.

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).
CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.
Implementation
The most basic advice for TOCTOU vulnerabilities is to not perform a check before the use. This does not resolve the underlying issue of the execution of a function on a resource whose state and identity cannot be assured, but it does help to limit the false sense of security given by the check.
Implementation
When the file being altered is owned by the current user and group, set the effective gid and uid to that of the current user and group when executing this statement.
Architecture and Design
Limit the interleaving of operations on files from multiple processes.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.11.3 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V1.11.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links (opens in a new tab)
Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) 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

Timeline

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 12 Oct 2026, 22:44 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-362, CWE-367

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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