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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-37938

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.136 / 6.6.89 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Verify event formats that have "%*p.." The trace event verifier checks the formats of trace events to make sure that they do not point at memory that is not in the trace event itself or in data that will never be freed. If an event references data that was allocated when the event triggered and that same data is freed before the event is read, then the kernel can crash by reading freed memory. The verifier runs at boot up (or module load) and scans the print formats of the events and checks their arguments to make sure that dereferenced pointers are safe. If the format uses "%*p.." the verifier will ignore it, and that could be dangerous. Cover this case as well. Also add to the sample code a use case of "%*pbl".

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.13, < 6.1.136>= 6.2, < 6.6.89>= 6.7, < 6.12.26>= 6.13, < 6.13.11>= 6.14, < 6.14.2
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.1.136 / 6.6.89 / 6.12.26 or later
Fixed in 6.1.1366.6.896.12.26
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 6.1.136, 6.6.89, 6.12.26, or 6.13.11 (depending on branch); Debian 12 for Debian-based systems

  1. Identify your current kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which stable kernel branch you are on based on your current version
  3. Upgrade to the first fixed release for your branch: if on 5.13-6.1.x, upgrade to >= 6.1.136; if on 6.2-6.6.x, upgrade to >= 6.6.89; if on 6.7-6.12.x, upgrade to >= 6.12.26; if on 6.13.x, upgrade to >= 6.13.11
  4. For Debian 11 systems, consider upgrading to Debian 12 (bookworm) for a newer kernel, or apply the vendor patch from commit 03127354027508d076073b020d3070990fd6a958 via backporting
  5. Reboot the system after kernel upgrade
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding third-party kernel modules; ensure driver compatibility before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-37938 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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