Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2025-38427
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: video: screen_info: Relocate framebuffers behind PCI bridges Apply PCI host-bridge window offsets to screen_info framebuffers. Fixes invalid access to I/O memory. Resources behind a PCI host bridge can be relocated by a certain offset in the kernel's CPU address range used for I/O. The framebuffer memory range stored in screen_info refers to the CPU addresses as seen during boot (where the offset is 0). During boot up, firmware may assign a different memory offset to the PCI host bridge and thereby relocating the framebuffer address of the PCI graphics device as seen by the kernel. The information in screen_info must be updated as well. The helper pcibios_bus_to_resource() performs the relocation of the screen_info's framebuffer resource (given in PCI bus addresses). The result matches the I/O-memory resource of the PCI graphics device (given in CPU addresses). As before, we store away the information necessary to later update the information in screen_info itself. Commit 78aa89d1dfba ("firmware/sysfb: Update screen_info for relocated EFI framebuffers") added the code for updating screen_info. It is based on similar functionality that pre-existed in efifb. Efifb uses a pointer to the PCI resource, while the newer code does a memcpy of the region. Hence efifb sees any updates to the PCI resource and avoids the issue. v3: - Only use struct pci_bus_region for PCI bus addresses (Bjorn) - Clarify address semantics in commit messages and comments (Bjorn) v2: - Fixed tags (Takashi, Ivan) - Updated information on efifb
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 analysisAllocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.
General guidance for the memory leak 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
>= 6.6.45, < 6.6.95>= 6.9, < 6.12.35>= 6.13, < 6.15.4CVSS 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 · scoped6.6.956.12.356.15.4
Upgrade to kernel >= 6.6.95 (for 6.6.x), >= 6.12.35 (for 6.9-6.12.x), or >= 6.15.4 (for 6.13-6.15.x); prefer latest stable (e.g., 6.16 or later)
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
- Check which version range your current kernel falls into: 6.6.45-6.6.94, 6.9-6.12.34, or 6.13-6.15.3
- Obtain and install a kernel version that meets or exceeds the fixed release for your branch
- Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and that screen_info properly handles PCI bridge offsets
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-2025-38427 — 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-2025-38427 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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