Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2025-38337
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: jbd2: fix data-race and null-ptr-deref in jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata() Since handle->h_transaction may be a NULL pointer, so we should change it to call is_handle_aborted(handle) first before dereferencing it. And the following data-race was reported in my fuzzer: ================================================================== BUG: KCSAN: data-race in jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata / jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata write to 0xffff888011024104 of 4 bytes by task 10881 on cpu 1: jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata+0x2a5/0x770 fs/jbd2/transaction.c:1556 __ext4_handle_dirty_metadata+0xe7/0x4b0 fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:358 ext4_do_update_inode fs/ext4/inode.c:5220 [inline] ext4_mark_iloc_dirty+0x32c/0xd50 fs/ext4/inode.c:5869 __ext4_mark_inode_dirty+0xe1/0x450 fs/ext4/inode.c:6074 ext4_dirty_inode+0x98/0xc0 fs/ext4/inode.c:6103 .... read to 0xffff888011024104 of 4 bytes by task 10880 on cpu 0: jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata+0xf2/0x770 fs/jbd2/transaction.c:1512 __ext4_handle_dirty_metadata+0xe7/0x4b0 fs/ext4/ext4_jbd2.c:358 ext4_do_update_inode fs/ext4/inode.c:5220 [inline] ext4_mark_iloc_dirty+0x32c/0xd50 fs/ext4/inode.c:5869 __ext4_mark_inode_dirty+0xe1/0x450 fs/ext4/inode.c:6074 ext4_dirty_inode+0x98/0xc0 fs/ext4/inode.c:6103 .... value changed: 0x00000000 -> 0x00000001 ================================================================== This issue is caused by missing data-race annotation for jh->b_modified. Therefore, the missing annotation needs to be added.
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 analysisThe 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
>= 4.3, < 5.4.295>= 5.5, < 5.10.239>= 5.11, < 5.15.186>= 5.16, < 6.1.142>= 6.2, < 6.6.95>= 6.7, < 6.12.35>= 6.13, < 6.15.4
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 11.0CVSS 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 · scoped5.4.2955.10.2395.15.186
Linux Kernel 6.1.142 or later (or 5.15.186+, 5.10.239+, 5.4.295+ depending on branch)
- Identify current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- For Debian 11 (bullseye) systems: Update package lists with 'apt-get update'
- Upgrade kernel by running 'apt-get install linux-image-' followed by the latest available version, or use 'apt-get dist-upgrade'
- Reboot the system to load the new kernel: 'systemctl reboot'
- Verify the kernel has been upgraded to a fixed version (>= 5.4.295, >= 5.10.239, >= 5.15.186, or >= 6.1.142) using 'uname -r'
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-38337 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-38337 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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