---
id: CVE-2025-38031
title: 'padata: do not leak refcount in reorder_work'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  padata: do not leak refcount in reorder_work

  A recent patch that addressed a UAF introduced a reference count leak:
  the parallel_data refcount is incremented unconditi…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= f4f1b1169fc3694f9bc3e28c6c68dbbf4cc744c0 <
    b9ad8e50e8589607e68e6c4cefa7f72bf35a2cb1
  - >-
    Linux >= 4c6209efea2208597dbd3e52dc87a0d1a8f2dbe1 <
    1a426abdf1c86882c9203dd8182f3b8274b89938
  - >-
    Linux >= 7000507bb0d2ceb545c0a690e0c707c897d102c2 <
    cceb15864e1612ebfbc10ec4e4dcd19a10c0056c
  - >-
    Linux >= 6f45ef616775b0ce7889b0f6077fc8d681ab30bc <
    584a729615fa92f4de45480efb7e569d14be1516
  - >-
    Linux >= 8ca38d0ca8c3d30dd18d311f1a7ec5cb56972cac <
    5300e487487d7a2e3e1e6e9d8f03ed9452e4019e
  - >-
    Linux >= dd7d37ccf6b11f3d95e797ebe4e9e886d0332600 <
    1c65ae4988714716101555fe2b9830e33136d6fb
  - >-
    Linux >= dd7d37ccf6b11f3d95e797ebe4e9e886d0332600 <
    d6ebcde6d4ecf34f8495fb30516645db3aea8993
  - Linux a54091c24220a4cd847d5b4f36d678edacddbaf0
  - Linux >= 5.10.235 < 5.10.238
  - Linux >= 5.15.179 < 5.15.185
  - Linux >= 6.1.129 < 6.1.141
  - Linux >= 6.6.76 < 6.6.93
  - Linux >= 6.12.13 < 6.12.31
  - Linux >= 6.13.2 < 6.14
  - Linux 6.14
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T20:48:22.271516Z'
published: '2025-06-18'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T20:52:12.934Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38031'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b9ad8e50e8589607e68e6c4cefa7f72bf35a2cb1'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1a426abdf1c86882c9203dd8182f3b8274b89938'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cceb15864e1612ebfbc10ec4e4dcd19a10c0056c'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/584a729615fa92f4de45480efb7e569d14be1516'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5300e487487d7a2e3e1e6e9d8f03ed9452e4019e'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c65ae4988714716101555fe2b9830e33136d6fb'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6ebcde6d4ecf34f8495fb30516645db3aea8993'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00214
epssPercentile: 0.11813
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.909Z'
---

## Overview

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

padata: do not leak refcount in reorder_work

A recent patch that addressed a UAF introduced a reference count leak:
the parallel_data refcount is incremented unconditionally, regardless
of the return value of queue_work(). If the work item is already queued,
the incremented refcount is never decremented.

Fix this by checking the return value of queue_work() and decrementing
the refcount when necessary.

Resolves:

Unreferenced object 0xffff9d9f421e3d80 (size 192):
  comm "cryptomgr_probe", pid 157, jiffies 4294694003
  hex dump (first 32 bytes):
    80 8b cf 41 9f 9d ff ff b8 97 e0 89 ff ff ff ff  ...A............
    d0 97 e0 89 ff ff ff ff 19 00 00 00 1f 88 23 00  ..............#.
  backtrace (crc 838fb36):
    __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x284/0x320
    padata_alloc_pd+0x20/0x1e0
    padata_alloc_shell+0x3b/0xa0
    0xffffffffc040a54d
    cryptomgr_probe+0x43/0xc0
    kthread+0xf6/0x1f0
    ret_from_fork+0x2f/0x50
    ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30

## Affected

- `Linux >= f4f1b1169fc3694f9bc3e28c6c68dbbf4cc744c0 < b9ad8e50e8589607e68e6c4cefa7f72bf35a2cb1`
- `Linux >= 4c6209efea2208597dbd3e52dc87a0d1a8f2dbe1 < 1a426abdf1c86882c9203dd8182f3b8274b89938`
- `Linux >= 7000507bb0d2ceb545c0a690e0c707c897d102c2 < cceb15864e1612ebfbc10ec4e4dcd19a10c0056c`
- `Linux >= 6f45ef616775b0ce7889b0f6077fc8d681ab30bc < 584a729615fa92f4de45480efb7e569d14be1516`
- `Linux >= 8ca38d0ca8c3d30dd18d311f1a7ec5cb56972cac < 5300e487487d7a2e3e1e6e9d8f03ed9452e4019e`
- `Linux >= dd7d37ccf6b11f3d95e797ebe4e9e886d0332600 < 1c65ae4988714716101555fe2b9830e33136d6fb`
- `Linux >= dd7d37ccf6b11f3d95e797ebe4e9e886d0332600 < d6ebcde6d4ecf34f8495fb30516645db3aea8993`
- `Linux a54091c24220a4cd847d5b4f36d678edacddbaf0`
- `Linux >= 5.10.235 < 5.10.238`
- `Linux >= 5.15.179 < 5.15.185`
- `Linux >= 6.1.129 < 6.1.141`
- `Linux >= 6.6.76 < 6.6.93`
- `Linux >= 6.12.13 < 6.12.31`
- `Linux >= 6.13.2 < 6.14`
- `Linux 6.14`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.