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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38473

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.297 / 5.10.241 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: Bluetooth: Fix null-ptr-deref in l2cap_sock_resume_cb() syzbot reported null-ptr-deref in l2cap_sock_resume_cb(). [0] l2cap_sock_resume_cb() has a similar problem that was fixed by commit 1bff51ea59a9 ("Bluetooth: fix use-after-free error in lock_sock_nested()"). Since both l2cap_sock_kill() and l2cap_sock_resume_cb() are executed under l2cap_sock_resume_cb(), we can avoid the issue simply by checking if chan->data is NULL. Let's not access to the killed socket in l2cap_sock_resume_cb(). [0]: BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in instrument_atomic_write include/linux/instrumented.h:82 [inline] BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in clear_bit include/asm-generic/bitops/instrumented-atomic.h:41 [inline] BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in l2cap_sock_resume_cb+0xb4/0x17c net/bluetooth/l2cap_sock.c:1711 Write of size 8 at addr 0000000000000570 by task kworker/u9:0/52 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 52 Comm: kworker/u9:0 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc4-syzkaller-g7482bb149b9f #0 PREEMPT Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 Workqueue: hci0 hci_rx_work Call trace: show_stack+0x2c/0x3c arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:501 (C) __dump_stack+0x30/0x40 lib/dump_stack.c:94 dump_stack_lvl+0xd8/0x12c lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_report+0x58/0x84 mm/kasan/report.c:524 kasan_report+0xb0/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:634 check_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:-1 [inline] kasan_check_range+0x264/0x2a4 mm/kasan/generic.c:189 __kasan_check_write+0x20/0x30 mm/kasan/shadow.c:37 instrument_atomic_write include/linux/instrumented.h:82 [inline] clear_bit include/asm-generic/bitops/instrumented-atomic.h:41 [inline] l2cap_sock_resume_cb+0xb4/0x17c net/bluetooth/l2cap_sock.c:1711 l2cap_security_cfm+0x524/0xea0 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:7357 hci_auth_cfm include/net/bluetooth/hci_core.h:2092 [inline] hci_auth_complete_evt+0x2e8/0xa4c net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:3514 hci_event_func net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:7511 [inline] hci_event_packet+0x650/0xe9c net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:7565 hci_rx_work+0x320/0xb18 net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:4070 process_one_work+0x7e8/0x155c kernel/workqueue.c:3238 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3321 [inline] worker_thread+0x958/0xed8 kernel/workqueue.c:3402 kthread+0x5fc/0x75c kernel/kthread.c:464 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:847

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:>= 3.13, < 5.4.297>= 5.5, < 5.10.241>= 5.11, < 5.15.190>= 5.16, < 6.1.147>= 6.2, < 6.6.100>= 6.7, < 6.12.40>= 6.13, < 6.15.8= 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 5.4.297 / 5.10.241 / 5.15.190 or later
Fixed in 5.4.2975.10.2415.15.190
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.1.147 or later (for 6.1.x LTS branch); alternatively 5.15.190 or later for 5.15.x branch

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine which kernel stable branch you are currently running (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x)
  3. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: for 5.4.x series upgrade to >= 5.4.297, for 5.10.x series upgrade to >= 5.10.241, for 5.15.x series upgrade to >= 5.15.190, for 6.1.x series upgrade to >= 6.1.147
  4. On Debian 11 (bullseye), apply vendor patch or upgrade kernel package to fixed version available from Debian security updates
  5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version or the presence of the commit in the kernel source
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce regressions; ensure compatibility with custom modules and hardware 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-2025-38473 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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