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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38458

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.296 / 5.10.240 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: atm: clip: Fix NULL pointer dereference in vcc_sendmsg() atmarpd_dev_ops does not implement the send method, which may cause crash as bellow. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0010 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5324 Comm: syz.0.0 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc6-syzkaller-00346-g5723cc3450bc #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:0x0 Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0xffffffffffffffd6. RSP: 0018:ffffc9000d3cf778 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 1ffffffff1910dd1 RBX: 00000000000000c0 RCX: dffffc0000000000 RDX: ffffc9000dc82000 RSI: ffff88803e4c4640 RDI: ffff888052cd0000 RBP: ffffc9000d3cf8d0 R08: ffff888052c9143f R09: 1ffff1100a592287 R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 1ffff92001a79f00 R13: ffff888052cd0000 R14: ffff88803e4c4640 R15: ffffffff8c886e88 FS: 00007fbc762566c0(0000) GS:ffff88808d6c2000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: ffffffffffffffd6 CR3: 0000000041f1b000 CR4: 0000000000352ef0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> vcc_sendmsg+0xa10/0xc50 net/atm/common.c:644 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:712 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x219/0x270 net/socket.c:727 ____sys_sendmsg+0x52d/0x830 net/socket.c:2566 ___sys_sendmsg+0x21f/0x2a0 net/socket.c:2620 __sys_sendmmsg+0x227/0x430 net/socket.c:2709 __do_sys_sendmmsg net/socket.c:2736 [inline] __se_sys_sendmmsg net/socket.c:2733 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmmsg+0xa0/0xc0 net/socket.c:2733 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf6/0x210 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

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:>= 2.6.13, < 5.4.296>= 5.5, < 5.10.240>= 5.11, < 5.15.189>= 5.16, < 6.1.146>= 6.2, < 6.6.99>= 6.7, < 6.12.39>= 6.13, < 6.15.7= 2.6.12= 6.16
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 5.4.296 / 5.10.240 / 5.15.189 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2965.10.2405.15.189
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel >= 5.4.296 (for 5.4.x branch), >= 5.10.240 (for 5.10.x branch), >= 5.15.189 (for 5.15.x branch), or >= 6.1.146 (for 6.1.x branch). For Debian 11, update to Debian kernel 5.10.240-1~bpo11+1 or later.

  1. Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. For Debian 11 (bullseye), update the kernel package via: apt update && apt install linux-image-$(dpkg --print-architecture)
  3. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  4. Verify the fix by checking the kernel version matches or exceeds: 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189, or 6.1.146 depending on your branch
  5. Alternatively, if using a distribution with Long Term Support (LTS) kernels, upgrade to a supported LTS release such as 6.1.146+ or 6.6+
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding third-party kernel modules. Ensure compatibility of proprietary drivers (e.g., NVIDIA, VirtualBox) with the new kernel version before rebooting.

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-2025-38458 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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