CVE-2025-38089 is a remotely reachable flaw in the Linux kernel SunRPC server service-authentication path. A specially crafted RPC request can cause authentication decoding to return SVC_GARBAGE without initializing the rq_accept_statp pointer. The server subsequently treats that result as requiring a GARBAGE_ARGS response and dereferences the unset pointer while storing an accept-status value. On a thread handling its first RPC request, the pointer can be NULL; on later requests, the write can instead corrupt memory. The corrected behavior treats SVC_GARBAGE returned during service authentication as AUTH_ERROR with AUTH_BADCRED, consistent with RFC 5531, and avoids accessing rq_accept_statp in this condition.
Mallory correlates every CVE against your assets, your vendors, and active adversary campaigns. Know which vulnerabilities matter for you, not just which ones are loud.
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Patch, then assume compromise.
1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
This repository contains a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit for CVE-2025-38089, a remote denial-of-service vulnerability in the Linux kernel's NFS server (introduced in version 6.3 and fixed in 6.16). The exploit is implemented in a single Python script (poc.py) using the Scapy library to craft and send a malicious NFSv4 EXCHANGE_ID RPC request over TCP to the target NFS server (default port 2049). The script performs a TCP handshake, constructs the required RPC and NFS payloads, and sends the crafted packet to trigger a kernel null pointer dereference (and potentially a use-after-free), resulting in a kernel crash. The README provides clear usage instructions, including the need to drop outgoing TCP RST packets to maintain the connection. The repository is structured simply, with a license, a detailed README, and the exploit script. No hardcoded credentials or external endpoints are present beyond the example IPs and standard NFS port.
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
11 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Listed as one of 573 vulnerabilities addressed by SUSE-SU-2026:20560-1 for kernel packages in SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.2.
Linux kernel SunRPC service-authentication handling flaw involving SVC_GARBAGE responses.
A Linux kernel SunRPC authentication-processing issue involving SVC_GARBAGE handling.
A Linux kernel SunRPC authentication-processing vulnerability concerning handling of SVC_GARBAGE, addressed by the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 kernel security update.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.