Linux Kernel up to 6.15.6 appletalk atrtr_create reference count

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.5	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.15.6. This impacts the function atrtr_create of the component appletalk. Performing a manipulation results in reference count. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-38542. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.15.6. This affects the function atrtr_create of the component appletalk. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a reference count vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-911. The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: appletalk: Fix device refcount leak in atrtr_create() When updating an existing route entry in atrtr_create(), the old device reference was not being released before assigning the new device, leading to a device refcount leak. Fix this by calling dev_put() to release the old device reference before holding the new one.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-38542 since 04/16/2025. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265984 (Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS : Linux kernel (Azure FIPS) vulnerabilities (USN-7775-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189, 6.1.146, 6.6.99, 6.12.39 or 6.15.7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch b92bedf71f25303e203a4e657489d76691a58119/a7852b01793669248dce0348d14df89e77a32afd/b2f5dfa87367fdce9f8b995bc6c38f64f9ea2c90/d2e9f50f0bdad73b64a871f25186b899624518c4/4a17370da6e476d3d275534e9e9cd2d02c57ca46/473f3eadfc73b0fb6d8dee5829d19a5772e387f7/64124cf0aab0dd1e18c0fb5ae66e45741e727f8b/711c80f7d8b163d3ecd463cd96f07230f488e750 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 (265984), EUVD (EUVD-2025-27894) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1858). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

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

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.4.295
• 5.10.239
• 5.15.188
• 6.1.145
• 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
• 6.6.92
• 6.6.93
• 6.6.94
• 6.6.95
• 6.6.96
• 6.6.97
• 6.6.98
• 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
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.15.0
• 6.15.1
• 6.15.2
• 6.15.3
• 6.15.4
• 6.15.5
• 6.15.6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.5

VulDB Base Score: 5.7
VulDB Temp Score: 5.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Reference count
CWE: CWE-911 / CWE-664
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 265984
Nessus Name: Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS : Linux kernel (Azure FIPS) vulnerabilities (USN-7775-1)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.4.296/5.10.240/5.15.189/6.1.146/6.6.99/6.12.39/6.15.7
Patch: b92bedf71f25303e203a4e657489d76691a58119/a7852b01793669248dce0348d14df89e77a32afd/b2f5dfa87367fdce9f8b995bc6c38f64f9ea2c90/d2e9f50f0bdad73b64a871f25186b899624518c4/4a17370da6e476d3d275534e9e9cd2d02c57ca46/473f3eadfc73b0fb6d8dee5829d19a5772e387f7/64124cf0aab0dd1e18c0fb5ae66e45741e727f8b/711c80f7d8b163d3ecd463cd96f07230f488e750

Timelineinfo

04/16/2025 CVE reserved
08/16/2025 +122 days Advisory disclosed
08/16/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
01/30/2026 +167 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-38542 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-38542
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-320373
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-1858 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Entryinfo

Created: 08/16/2025 14:36
Updated: 01/30/2026 20:20
Changes: 08/16/2025 14:36 (59), 09/27/2025 05:04 (2), 09/28/2025 09:43 (7), 10/03/2025 17:15 (1), 10/12/2025 21:00 (1), 11/01/2025 22:02 (1), 01/07/2026 20:08 (11), 01/08/2026 16:30 (1), 01/30/2026 20:20 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Discussion

Do you need the next level of professionalism?

Upgrade your account now!