Linux Kernel up to 9526f051bedde01baa50081afe143a8bc5b8e6be dmaengine idxd_alloc memory leak

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.139/6.6.91/6.12.29/6.14.7/9526f051bedde01baa50081afe143a8bc5b8e6be. This issue affects the function idxd_alloc of the component dmaengine. Such manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2025-38015. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.139/6.6.91/6.12.29/6.14.7/9526f051bedde01baa50081afe143a8bc5b8e6be. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is the function idxd_alloc of the component dmaengine. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: idxd: fix memory leak in error handling path of idxd_alloc Memory allocated for idxd is not freed if an error occurs during idxd_alloc(). To fix it, free the allocated memory in the reverse order of allocation before exiting the function in case of an error.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-38015 since 04/16/2025. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 242347 (Oracle Linux 9 : Unbreakable Enterprise kernel (ELSA-2025-20480)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.140, 6.6.92, 6.12.30 or 6.14.8 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 64afd9a1f644b27661420257dcc007d5009c99dd/6e94a2c3e4c166cd2736ac225fba5889fb1e8ac0/868dbce755ec92855362d213f47e045a8388361a/4f005eb68890698e5abc6a3af04dab76f175c50c/46a5cca76c76c86063000a12936f8e7875295838 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (242347) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1350). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Avamar
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.139
• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.6.24
• 6.6.25
• 6.6.26
• 6.6.27
• 6.6.28
• 6.6.29
• 6.6.30
• 6.6.31
• 6.6.32
• 6.6.33
• 6.6.34
• 6.6.35
• 6.6.36
• 6.6.37
• 6.6.38
• 6.6.39
• 6.6.40
• 6.6.41
• 6.6.42
• 6.6.43
• 6.6.44
• 6.6.45
• 6.6.46
• 6.6.47
• 6.6.48
• 6.6.49
• 6.6.50
• 6.6.51
• 6.6.52
• 6.6.53
• 6.6.54
• 6.6.55
• 6.6.56
• 6.6.57
• 6.6.58
• 6.6.59
• 6.6.60
• 6.6.61
• 6.6.62
• 6.6.63
• 6.6.64
• 6.6.65
• 6.6.66
• 6.6.67
• 6.6.68
• 6.6.69
• 6.6.70
• 6.6.71
• 6.6.72
• 6.6.73
• 6.6.74
• 6.6.75
• 6.6.76
• 6.6.77
• 6.6.78
• 6.6.79
• 6.6.80
• 6.6.81
• 6.6.82
• 6.6.83
• 6.6.84
• 6.6.85
• 6.6.86
• 6.6.87
• 6.6.88
• 6.6.89
• 6.6.90
• 6.6.91
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.14.0
• 6.14.1
• 6.14.2
• 6.14.3
• 6.14.4
• 6.14.5
• 6.14.6
• 6.14.7
• 9526f051bedde01baa50081afe143a8bc5b8e6be

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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