CVE-2025-38334

CVE-2025-38334 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.

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Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/sgx: Prevent attempts to...

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

x86/sgx: Prevent attempts to reclaim poisoned pages

TL;DR: SGX page reclaim touches the page to copy its contents to
secondary storage. SGX instructions do not gracefully handle machine
checks. Despite this, the existing SGX code will try to reclaim pages
that it knows are poisoned. Avoid even trying to reclaim poisoned pages.

The longer story:

Pages used by an enclave only get epc_page->poison set in
arch_memory_failure() but they currently stay on sgx_active_page_list until
sgx_encl_release(), with the SGX_EPC_PAGE_RECLAIMER_TRACKED flag untouched.

epc_page->poison is not checked in the reclaimer logic meaning that, if other
conditions are met, an attempt will be made to reclaim an EPC page that was
poisoned. This is bad because 1. we don't want that page to end up added
to another enclave and 2. it is likely to cause one core to shut down
and the kernel to panic.

Specifically, reclaiming uses microcode operations including "EWB" which
accesses the EPC page contents to encrypt and write them out to non-SGX
memory. Those operations cannot handle MCEs in their accesses other than
by putting the executing core into a special shutdown state (affecting
both threads with HT.) The kernel will subsequently panic on the
remaining cores seeing the core didn't enter MCE handler(s) in time.

Call sgx_unmark_page_reclaimable() to remove the affected EPC page from
sgx_active_page_list on memory error to stop it being considered for
reclaiming.

Testing epc_page->poison in sgx_reclaim_pages() would also work but I assume
it's better to add code in the less likely paths.

The affected EPC page is not added to &node->sgx_poison_page_list until
later in sgx_encl_release()->sgx_free_epc_page() when it is EREMOVEd.
Membership on other lists doesn't change to avoid changing any of the
lists' semantics except for sgx_active_page_list. There's a "TBD" comment
in arch_memory_failure() about pre-emptive actions, the goal here is not
to address everything that it may imply.

This also doesn't completely close the time window when a memory error
notification will be fatal (for a not previously poisoned EPC page) --
the MCE can happen after sgx_reclaim_pages() has selected its candidates
or even inside a microcode operation (actually easy to trigger due to
the amount of time spent in them.)

The spinlock in sgx_unmark_page_reclaimable() is safe because
memory_failure() runs in process context and no spinlocks are held,
explicitly noted in a mm/memory-failure.c comment.

Impact

CVE-2025-38334 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.

Affected versions

Not available

Security releases

Not available

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

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Remediation advice

Not available

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is CVE-2025-38334? CVE-2025-38334 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
  2. How severe is CVE-2025-38334? CVE-2025-38334 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
  3. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-38334? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-38334 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
  4. Is CVE-2025-38334 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-38334 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
  5. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-38334 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.

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