CVE-2025-38488
CriticalCVSS 9.8Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk45th percentile - higher than 45% of all known CVEs
Summary
A use-after-free vulnerability was found in the crypt_message function of the Linux kernel's SMB client module. The issue occurs when hardware crypto accelerators perform asynchronous operations. After removing async handling in the CVE-2024-50047 fix, the request buffer is freed before the crypto operation completes, leading to kernel crashes.
Risk Assessment
An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause a system crash (DoS) by sending a specially crafted SMB request that triggers an asynchronous crypto operation. In extreme cases, this could lead to data integrity compromise or privilege escalation.
Recommendation
Immediately update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that restores async crypto handling in the crypt_message function. Monitor your distribution for the patch and apply it after testing in a non-production environment.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
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- CVE-2026-90045Unknown
In the Linux kernel USB gadget ffs driver, the io_data structure stores a pointer to the submitting task's mm_struct but does not hold a reference while async requests are pending. This can cause a use-after-free if the task exits before completion handling finishes. The fix takes a reference with mmgrab() when queuing and releases it with mmdrop() on completion.
- CVE-2026-90044Unknown
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- CVE-2026-90043Unknown
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- CVE-2026-90042Unknown
A vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's Ceph filesystem where ceph_fname_to_usr() passed vmalloc() buffers to the fscrypt crypto API, which requires linear memory. This can cause kernel oopses, especially on non-x86 platforms. The fix adds support for vmalloc() buffers using a bounce buffer.
- CVE-2026-90041Unknown
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In the Linux kernel, nfsd4_revoke_export_states() drops nn->client_lock but the held stateid reference does not pin the client. A concurrent client teardown can free the client while revoke_one_stid() still dereferences it, causing a use-after-free.
- CVE-2026-90037Unknown
In the Linux kernel, an nfs4_openowner left on nn->close_lru holds only a raw pointer to its nfs4_client. When the laundromat reaps entries, drops client_lock and calls nfs4_put_stid(), a concurrent force_expire_client() can free the client, causing a use-after-free.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: fix use-after-free in crypt_message when using async crypto The CVE-2024-50047 fix removed asynchronous crypto handling from crypt_message(), assuming all crypto operations are synchronous. However, when hardware crypto accelerators are used, this can cause use-after-free crashes: crypt_message() // Allocate the creq buffer containing the req creq = smb2_get_aead_req(..., &req); // Async encryption returns -EINPROGRESS immediately rc = enc ? crypto_aead_encrypt(req) : crypto_aead_decrypt(req); // Free creq while async operation is still in progress kvfree_sensitive(creq, ...); Hardware crypto modules often implement async AEAD operations for performance. When crypto_aead_encrypt/decrypt() returns -EINPROGRESS, the operation completes asynchronously. Without crypto_wait_req(), the function immediately frees the request buffer, leading to crashes when the driver later accesses the freed memory. This results in a use-after-free condition when the hardware crypto driver later accesses the freed request structure, leading to kernel crashes with NULL pointer dereferences. The issue occurs because crypto_alloc_aead() with mask=0 doesn't guarantee synchronous operation. Even without CRYPTO_ALG_ASYNC in the mask, async implementations can be selected. Fix by restoring the async crypto handling: - DECLARE_CRYPTO_WAIT(wait) for completion tracking - aead_request_set_callback() for async completion notification - crypto_wait_req() to wait for operation completion This ensures the request buffer isn't freed until the crypto operation completes, whether synchronous or asynchronous, while preserving the CVE-2024-50047 fix.