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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38569

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-19
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: benet: fix BUG when creating VFs benet crashes as soon as SRIOV VFs are created: kernel BUG at mm/vmalloc.c:3457! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 7408 Comm: test.sh Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.16.0+ #1 PREEMPT(voluntary) [...] RIP: 0010:vunmap+0x5f/0x70 [...] Call Trace: <TASK> __iommu_dma_free+0xe8/0x1c0 be_cmd_set_mac_list+0x3fe/0x640 [be2net] be_cmd_set_mac+0xaf/0x110 [be2net] be_vf_eth_addr_config+0x19f/0x330 [be2net] be_vf_setup+0x4f7/0x990 [be2net] be_pci_sriov_configure+0x3a1/0x470 [be2net] sriov_numvfs_store+0x20b/0x380 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x354/0x530 vfs_write+0x9b9/0xf60 ksys_write+0xf3/0x1d0 do_syscall_64+0x8c/0x3d0 be_cmd_set_mac_list() calls dma_free_coherent() under a spin_lock_bh. Fix it by freeing only after the lock has been released.

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:>= 5.4.291, < 5.4.297>= 5.10.235, < 5.10.241>= 5.15.179, < 5.15.190>= 6.1.131, < 6.1.148>= 6.6.83, < 6.6.102>= 6.12.19, < 6.12.42>= 6.13.7, < 6.14>= 6.14.1, < 6.15.10>= 6.16, < 6.16.1= 6.14
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

Linux Kernel 5.4.297+, 5.10.241+, 5.15.190+, or 6.1.148+ (or Debian 11 vendor updates)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Determine which kernel branch your version belongs to (5.4.x, 5.10.x, 5.15.x, or 6.1.x)
  3. 3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to the fixed release for your branch: for 5.4.x upgrade to 5.4.297 or later, for 5.10.x upgrade to 5.10.241 or later, for 5.15.x upgrade to 5.15.190 or later, for 6.1.x upgrade to 6.1.148 or later
  4. 4. On Debian 11 (bullseye), apply vendor updates: run `apt update && apt upgrade` to install the patched kernel package
  5. 5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. 6. Verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r`
  7. 7. Test SRIOV VF creation to confirm the fix resolves the NULL pointer dereference
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree kernel modules; test in staging before production deployment

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-2025-38569 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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