In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: lib/alloc_tag: do not acquire non-existent lock in alloc_tag_top_users() alloc_tag_top_users() attempts to lock alloc_tag_cttype->mod_lock even when the alloc_tag_cttype is not allocated because: 1) alloc tagging is disabled because mem profiling is disabled (!alloc_tag_cttype) 2) alloc tagging is enabled, but not yet initialized (!alloc_tag_cttype) 3) alloc tagging is enabled, but failed initialization (!alloc_tag_cttype or IS_ERR(alloc_tag_cttype)) In all cases, alloc_tag_cttype is not allocated, and therefore alloc_tag_top_users() should not attempt to acquire the semaphore. This leads to a crash on memory allocation failure by attempting to acquire a non-existent semaphore: Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000001b: 0000 [#3] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000d8-0x00000000000000df] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: systemd Tainted: G D 6.16.0-rc2 #1 VOLUNTARY Tainted: [D]=DIE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:down_read_trylock+0xaa/0x3b0 Code: d0 7c 08 84 d2 0f 85 a0 02 00 00 8b 0d df 31 dd 04 85 c9 75 29 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 8d 6b 68 48 89 ea 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 88 02 00 00 48 3b 5b 68 0f 85 53 01 00 00 65 ff RSP: 0000:ffff8881002ce9b8 EFLAGS: 00010016 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000070 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 000000000000001b RSI: 000000000000000a RDI: 0000000000000070 RBP: 00000000000000d8 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed107dde49d1 R10: ffff8883eef24e8b R11: ffff8881002cec20 R12: 1ffff11020059d37 R13: 00000000003fff7b R14: ffff8881002cec20 R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 00007f963f21d940(0000) GS:ffff888458ca6000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f963f5edf71 CR3: 000000010672c000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> codetag_trylock_module_list+0xd/0x20 alloc_tag_top_users+0x369/0x4b0 __show_mem+0x1cd/0x6e0 warn_alloc+0x2b1/0x390 __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x12b9/0x21a0 alloc_pages_mpol+0x135/0x3e0 alloc_slab_page+0x82/0xe0 new_slab+0x212/0x240 ___slab_alloc+0x82a/0xe00 </TASK> As David Wang points out, this issue became easier to trigger after commit 780138b12381 ("alloc_tag: check mem_profiling_support in alloc_tag_init"). Before the commit, the issue occurred only when it failed to allocate and initialize alloc_tag_cttype or if a memory allocation fails before alloc_tag_init() is called. After the commit, it can be easily triggered when memory profiling is compiled but disabled at boot. To properly determine whether alloc_tag_init() has been called and its data structures initialized, verify that alloc_tag_cttype is a valid pointer before acquiring the semaphore. If the variable is NULL or an error value, it has not been properly initialized. In such a case, just skip and do not attempt to acquire the semaphore. [harry.yoo@oracle.com: v3]

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - lib/alloc_tag: do not acquire non-existent lock in alloc_tag_top_users() alloc_tag_top_users() attempts to     lock alloc_tag_cttype->mod_lock even when the alloc_tag_cttype is not allocated because: 1) alloc tagging     is disabled because mem profiling is disabled (!alloc_tag_cttype) 2) alloc tagging is enabled, but not yet     initialized (!alloc_tag_cttype) 3) alloc tagging is enabled, but failed initialization (!alloc_tag_cttype     or IS_ERR(alloc_tag_cttype)) In all cases, alloc_tag_cttype is not allocated, and therefore     alloc_tag_top_users() should not attempt to acquire the semaphore. This leads to a crash on memory     allocation failure by attempting to acquire a non-existent semaphore: Oops: general protection fault,     probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000001b: 0000 [#3] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in     range [0x00000000000000d8-0x00000000000000df] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: systemd Tainted: G D 6.16.0-rc2     #1 VOLUNTARY Tainted: [D]=DIE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS     1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:down_read_trylock+0xaa/0x3b0 Code: d0 7c 08 84 d2 0f 85 a0 02     00 00 8b 0d df 31 dd 04 85 c9 75 29 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 8d 6b 68 48 89 ea 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c     02 00 0f 85 88 02 00 00 48 3b 5b 68 0f 85 53 01 00 00 65 ff RSP: 0000:ffff8881002ce9b8 EFLAGS: 00010016     RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000070 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 000000000000001b RSI:
    000000000000000a RDI: 0000000000000070 RBP: 00000000000000d8 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed107dde49d1     R10: ffff8883eef24e8b R11: ffff8881002cec20 R12: 1ffff11020059d37 R13: 00000000003fff7b R14:
    ffff8881002cec20 R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 00007f963f21d940(0000) GS:ffff888458ca6000(0000)     knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f963f5edf71 CR3:
    000000010672c000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> codetag_trylock_module_list+0xd/0x20     alloc_tag_top_users+0x369/0x4b0 __show_mem+0x1cd/0x6e0 warn_alloc+0x2b1/0x390
    __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x12b9/0x21a0 alloc_pages_mpol+0x135/0x3e0 alloc_slab_page+0x82/0xe0     new_slab+0x212/0x240 ___slab_alloc+0x82a/0xe00 </TASK> As David Wang points out, this issue became easier     to trigger after commit 780138b12381 (alloc_tag: check mem_profiling_support in alloc_tag_init). Before     the commit, the issue occurred only when it failed to allocate and initialize alloc_tag_cttype or if a     memory allocation fails before alloc_tag_init() is called. After the commit, it can be easily triggered     when memory profiling is compiled but disabled at boot. To properly determine whether alloc_tag_init() has     been called and its data structures initialized, verify that alloc_tag_cttype is a valid pointer before     acquiring the semaphore. If the variable is NULL or an error value, it has not been properly initialized.
    In such a case, just skip and do not attempt to acquire the semaphore. [harry.yoo@oracle.com: v3]     (CVE-2025-38517)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the ALAS2023-2025-1145 advisory.

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    btrfs: fix block group refcount race in btrfs_create_pending_block_groups() (CVE-2025-22115)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    ublk: fix race between io_uring_cmd_complete_in_task and ublk_cancel_cmd (CVE-2025-37906)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    crypto: ecdsa - Harden against integer overflows in DIV_ROUND_UP() (CVE-2025-37984)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    rseq: Fix segfault on registration when rseq_cs is non-zero (CVE-2025-38067)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    bridge: mcast: Fix use-after-free during router port configuration (CVE-2025-38248)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    fs/fhandle.c: fix a race in call of has_locked_children() (CVE-2025-38306)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    eventpoll: don't decrement ep refcount while still holding the ep mutex (CVE-2025-38349)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    net/mlx5e: Fix race between DIM disable and net_dim() (CVE-2025-38440)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    netfilter: flowtable: account for Ethernet header in nf_flow_pppoe_proto() (CVE-2025-38441)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    nbd: fix uaf in nbd_genl_connect() error path (CVE-2025-38443)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    raid10: cleanup memleak at raid10_make_request (CVE-2025-38444)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    md/raid1: Fix stack memory use after return in raid1_reshape (CVE-2025-38445)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    drm/gem: Acquire references on GEM handles for framebuffers (CVE-2025-38449)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    md/md-bitmap: fix GPF in bitmap_get_stats() (CVE-2025-38451)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    KVM: SVM: Reject SEV{-ES} intra host migration if vCPU creation is in-flight (CVE-2025-38455)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    ipmi:msghandler: Fix potential memory corruption in ipmi_create_user() (CVE-2025-38456)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    net/sched: Abort __tc_modify_qdisc if parent class does not exist (CVE-2025-38457)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    vsock: Fix transport_* TOCTOU (CVE-2025-38461)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    vsock: Fix transport_{g2h,h2g} TOCTOU (CVE-2025-38462)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    tcp: Correct signedness in skb remaining space calculation (CVE-2025-38463)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    netlink: Fix wraparounds of sk->sk_rmem_alloc. (CVE-2025-38465)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    perf: Revert to requiring CAP_SYS_ADMIN for uprobes (CVE-2025-38466)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    net/sched: Return NULL when htb_lookup_leaf encounters an empty rbtree (CVE-2025-38468)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    net: vlan: fix VLAN 0 refcount imbalance of toggling filtering during runtime (CVE-2025-38470)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    tls: always refresh the queue when reading sock (CVE-2025-38471)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    netfilter: nf_conntrack: fix crash due to removal of uninitialised entry (CVE-2025-38472)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    smc: Fix various oops due to inet_sock type confusion. (CVE-2025-38475)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    rpl: Fix use-after-free in rpl_do_srh_inline(). (CVE-2025-38476)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    net/sched: sch_qfq: Fix race condition on qfq_aggregate (CVE-2025-38477)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    smb: client: fix use-after-free in crypt_message when using async crypto (CVE-2025-38488)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    mptcp: make fallback action and fallback decision atomic (CVE-2025-38491)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    tracing/osnoise: Fix crash in timerlat_dump_stack() (CVE-2025-38493)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    HID: core: do not bypass hid_hw_raw_request (CVE-2025-38494)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    HID: core: ensure the allocated report buffer can contain the reserved report ID (CVE-2025-38495)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    dm-bufio: fix sched in atomic context (CVE-2025-38496)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    clone_private_mnt(): make sure that caller has CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the right userns (CVE-2025-38499)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    btrfs: fix assertion when building free space tree (CVE-2025-38503)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    KVM: Allow CPU to reschedule while setting per-page memory attributes (CVE-2025-38506)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    lib/alloc_tag: do not acquire non-existent lock in alloc_tag_top_users() (CVE-2025-38517)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    smb: client: fix use-after-free in cifs_oplock_break (CVE-2025-38527)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    bpf: Reject %p% format string in bprintf-like helpers (CVE-2025-38528)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    net: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy (CVE-2025-38537)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    tracing: Add down_write(trace_event_sem) when adding trace event (CVE-2025-38539)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    HID: quirks: Add quirk for 2 Chicony Electronics HP 5MP Cameras (CVE-2025-38540)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    efivarfs: Fix memory leak of efivarfs_fs_info in fs_context error paths (CVE-2025-38549)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    ipv6: mcast: Delay put pmc->idev in mld_del_delrec() (CVE-2025-38550)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    virtio-net: fix recursived rtnl_lock() during probe() (CVE-2025-38551)

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

    mptcp: plug races between subflow fail and subflow creation (CVE-2025-38552)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the tested product security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
259969	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-38517	Nessus	Misc.	medium
246922	Amazon Linux 2023 : bpftool6.12, kernel6.12, kernel6.12-devel (ALAS2023-2025-1145)	Nessus	Amazon Linux Local Security Checks	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2025-38517

medium

Tenable Plugins

medium

high