CVE-2025-38700: scsi: libiscsi: Initialize iscsi_conn->dd_data only if memory is allocated

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-09-04 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-476

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: libiscsi: Initialize iscsi_conn->dd_data only if memory is allocated In case of an ib_fast_reg_mr allocation failure during iSER setup, the machine hits a panic because iscsi_conn->dd_data is initialized unconditionally, even when no memory is allocated (dd_size == 0). This leads invalid pointer dereference during connection teardown. Fix by setting iscsi_conn->dd_data only if memory is actually allocated. Panic trace: ------------ iser: iser_create_fastreg_desc: Failed to allocate ib_fast_reg_mr err=-12 iser: iser_alloc_rx_descriptors: failed allocating rx descriptors / data buffers BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: fffffffffffffff8 RIP: 0010:swake_up_locked.part.5+0xa/0x40 Call Trace: complete+0x31/0x40 iscsi_iser_conn_stop+0x88/0xb0 [ib_iser] iscsi_stop_conn+0x66/0xc0 [scsi_transport_iscsi] iscsi_if_stop_conn+0x14a/0x150 [scsi_transport_iscsi] iscsi_if_rx+0x1135/0x1834 [scsi_transport_iscsi] ? netlink_lookup+0x12f/0x1b0 ? netlink_deliver_tap+0x2c/0x200 netlink_unicast+0x1ab/0x280 netlink_sendmsg+0x257/0x4f0 ? _copy_from_user+0x29/0x60 sock_sendmsg+0x5f/0x70

Affected products

Debian Linux: 11.0
Linux kernel: from 2.6.27 before 5.4.297; from 5.5 before 5.10.241; from 5.11 before 5.15.190; from 5.16 before 6.1.149; from 6.2 before 6.6.103; from 6.7 before 6.12.43 — fixed in 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 5.4.297, 6.1.149, 6.12.43, 6.15.11

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 5.4.297, 6.1.149. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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