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CVE-2025-38097 Not scored

espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak The current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference leaks when we try to delete the netns. The reference chain is: xfrm_state -> enacp_sk -> netns Since the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on the netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or individual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the socket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the netns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns have terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its reference on the socket. This patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance regression. A GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear references if the state hasn't been used "recently", but it's a lot more complex than just not caching the socket.

Exploit probability 0.2%
Published July 3, 2025
Required by Not available
Last source change July 15, 2026

02 / AFFECTED SOFTWARE

Affected packages

Linux Kernel
Unknown Unknown

03 / CONNECTIONS

Connected vulnerabilities

related SUSE-SU-2025:02853-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02923-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02969-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02996-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02997-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:03011-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:03023-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20577-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20586-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20601-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20602-1

04 / EVIDENCE

Source records

Open Source Vulnerabilities CVE-2025-38097

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: espintcp: remove encap socket caching to avoid reference leak The current scheme for caching the encap socket can lead to reference leaks when we try to delete the netns. The reference chain is: xfrm_state -> enacp_sk -> netns Since the encap socket is a userspace socket, it holds a reference on the netns. If we delete the espintcp state (through flush or individual delete) before removing the netns, the reference on the socket is dropped and the netns is correctly deleted. Otherwise, the netns may not be reachable anymore (if all processes within the ns have terminated), so we cannot delete the xfrm state to drop its reference on the socket. This patch results in a small (~2% in my tests) performance regression. A GC-type mechanism could be added for the socket cache, to clear references if the state hasn't been used "recently", but it's a lot more complex than just not caching the socket.

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05 / REFERENCES

Further evidence