CVE Intelligence
High Memory corruption

CVE-2025-38250 — Bluetooth: hci_core: Fix use-after-free in vhci_flush()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Bluetooth: hci_core: Fix use-after-free in vhci_flush() syzbot reported use-after-free in vhci_flush() without repro. [0] From the splat, a thread close()d a vhci file descriptor while its device was being used by iotcl() on another thread. Once the last fd refcnt is released, vhci_release() calls hci_unregister_dev(), hci_free_dev(), and kfree() for struct vhci_data, which is set to hci_dev->dev->driver_data. The problem is that there is no synchronisation after unlinking hdev from hci_dev_list in hci_unregister_dev(). There might be another thread still accessing the hdev which was fetched before the unlink operation. We can use SRCU for such synchronisation. Let's run hci_dev_reset() under SRCU and wait for its completion in hci_unregister_dev(). Another option would be to restore hci_dev->destruct(), which was removed in commit 587ae086f6e4 ("Bluetooth: Remove unused hci-destruct cb"). However, this would not be a good solution, as we should not run hci_unregister_dev() while there are in-flight ioctl() requests, which could lead to another data-race KCSAN splat. Note that other drivers seem to have the same problem, for exmaple, virtbt_remove(). [0]: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in skb_queue_empty_lockless include/linux/skbuff.h:1891 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in skb_queue_purge_reason+0x99/0x360 net/core/skbuff.c:3937 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88807cb8d858 by task syz.1.219/6718 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 6718 Comm: syz.1.219 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc1-syzkaller-00196-g08207f42d3ff #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x189/0x250 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:408 [inline] print_report+0xd2/0x2b0 mm/kasan/report.c:521 kasan_report+0x118/0x150 mm/kasan/report.c:634 skb_queue_empty_lockless include/linux/skbuff.h:1891 [inline] skb_queue_purge_reason+0x99/0x360 net/core/skbuff.c:3937 skb_queue_purge include/linux/skbuff.h:3368 [inline] vhci_flush+0x44/0x50 drivers/bluetooth/hci_vhci.c:69 hci_dev_do_reset net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:552 [inline] hci_dev_reset+0x420/0x5c0 net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:592 sock_do_ioctl+0xd9/0x300 net/socket.c:1190 sock_ioctl+0x576/0x790 net/socket.c:1311 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xf9/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:893 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xfa/0x3b0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fcf5b98e929 Code: ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 a8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007fcf5c7b9038 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fcf5bbb6160 RCX: 00007fcf5b98e929 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000400448cb RDI: 0000000000000009 RBP: 00007fcf5ba10b39 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00007fcf5bbb6160 R15: 00007ffd6353d528 </TASK> Allocated by task 6535: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3e/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:68 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0x93/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x230/0x3d0 mm/slub.c:4359 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:905 [inline] kzalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:1039 [inline] vhci_open+0x57/0x360 drivers/bluetooth/hci_vhci.c:635 misc_open+0x2bc/0x330 drivers/char/misc.c:161 chrdev_open+0x4c9/0x5e0 fs/char_dev.c:414 do_dentry_open+0xdf0/0x1970 fs/open.c:964 vfs_open+0x3b/0x340 fs/open.c:1094 do_open fs/namei.c:3887 [inline] path_openat+0x2ee5/0x3830 fs/name ---truncated---

Published Jul 9, 2025 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.18%
ahead of 7% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
7.8
High · 4 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux, Linux Linux Kernel).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux ≥ bf18c7118cf83ad4b9aa476354b4a06bcb9d0c4f and < dd4becd3fd4102696e1c15e6d260a1712a2d8685≥ bf18c7118cf83ad4b9aa476354b4a06bcb9d0c4f and < 90dee0a0ff84fac8accd5be98412b3819f667149≥ bf18c7118cf83ad4b9aa476354b4a06bcb9d0c4f and < c56b177efce8b62798e4d96bdb9867106cb7c4a0≥ bf18c7118cf83ad4b9aa476354b4a06bcb9d0c4f and < bc0819a25e04cd68ef3568cfa51b63118fea39a7≥ bf18c7118cf83ad4b9aa476354b4a06bcb9d0c4f and < ce23b73f0f27e2dbeb81734a79db710f05aa33c6≥ bf18c7118cf83ad4b9aa476354b4a06bcb9d0c4f and < 0e5c144c557df910ab64d9c25d06399a9a735e65≥ bf18c7118cf83ad4b9aa476354b4a06bcb9d0c4f and < 1d6123102e9fbedc8d25bf4731da6d513173e49eversion 3.4 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel ≥ 3.4 and < 6.6.97≥ 6.7 and < 6.12.36≥ 6.13 and < 6.15.5version 6.16-rc1version 6.16-rc2version 6.16-rc3 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — Linux via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-416 · Use After Free

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 14, 2026 → Oct 15, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.18%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 7.8
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Jul 9, 2025 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× References added · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

10 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-416
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99999 ipv4: validate checksum_start before completing checksum 10h
  • CVE-2026-98432 ipv4: free inet_opt and ireq_opt after an RCU grace period 10h
  • CVE-2026-98431 RDMA/uverbs: Fix mmap_lock/disassociation_lock circular dependency 1d
  • CVE-2026-98430 RDMA/efa: Keep admin queues alive while IRQ is registered 1d
  • CVE-2026-98429 RDMA/efa: Keep EQ resources alive while IRQ is registered 1d
  • CVE-2026-98428 ALSA: usb: 6fire: Avoid embedded URBs 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2025-38250 is "Bluetooth: hci_core: Fix use-after-free in vhci_flush()", rated High. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.18% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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