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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38713

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.297 / 5.10.241 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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: hfsplus: fix slab-out-of-bounds read in hfsplus_uni2asc() The hfsplus_readdir() method is capable to crash by calling hfsplus_uni2asc(): [ 667.121659][ T9805] ================================================================== [ 667.122651][ T9805] BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in hfsplus_uni2asc+0x902/0xa10 [ 667.123627][ T9805] Read of size 2 at addr ffff88802592f40c by task repro/9805 [ 667.124578][ T9805] [ 667.124876][ T9805] CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 9805 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.16.0-rc3 #1 PREEMPT(full) [ 667.124886][ T9805] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 667.124890][ T9805] Call Trace: [ 667.124893][ T9805] <TASK> [ 667.124896][ T9805] dump_stack_lvl+0x10e/0x1f0 [ 667.124911][ T9805] print_report+0xd0/0x660 [ 667.124920][ T9805] ? __virt_addr_valid+0x81/0x610 [ 667.124928][ T9805] ? __phys_addr+0xe8/0x180 [ 667.124934][ T9805] ? hfsplus_uni2asc+0x902/0xa10 [ 667.124942][ T9805] kasan_report+0xc6/0x100 [ 667.124950][ T9805] ? hfsplus_uni2asc+0x902/0xa10 [ 667.124959][ T9805] hfsplus_uni2asc+0x902/0xa10 [ 667.124966][ T9805] ? hfsplus_bnode_read+0x14b/0x360 [ 667.124974][ T9805] hfsplus_readdir+0x845/0xfc0 [ 667.124984][ T9805] ? __pfx_hfsplus_readdir+0x10/0x10 [ 667.124994][ T9805] ? stack_trace_save+0x8e/0xc0 [ 667.125008][ T9805] ? iterate_dir+0x18b/0xb20 [ 667.125015][ T9805] ? trace_lock_acquire+0x85/0xd0 [ 667.125022][ T9805] ? lock_acquire+0x30/0x80 [ 667.125029][ T9805] ? iterate_dir+0x18b/0xb20 [ 667.125037][ T9805] ? down_read_killable+0x1ed/0x4c0 [ 667.125044][ T9805] ? putname+0x154/0x1a0 [ 667.125051][ T9805] ? __pfx_down_read_killable+0x10/0x10 [ 667.125058][ T9805] ? apparmor_file_permission+0x239/0x3e0 [ 667.125069][ T9805] iterate_dir+0x296/0xb20 [ 667.125076][ T9805] __x64_sys_getdents64+0x13c/0x2c0 [ 667.125084][ T9805] ? __pfx___x64_sys_getdents64+0x10/0x10 [ 667.125091][ T9805] ? __x64_sys_openat+0x141/0x200 [ 667.125126][ T9805] ? __pfx_filldir64+0x10/0x10 [ 667.125134][ T9805] ? do_user_addr_fault+0x7fe/0x12f0 [ 667.125143][ T9805] do_syscall_64+0xc9/0x480 [ 667.125151][ T9805] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [ 667.125158][ T9805] RIP: 0033:0x7fa8753b2fc9 [ 667.125164][ T9805] Code: 00 c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 48 [ 667.125172][ T9805] RSP: 002b:00007ffe96f8e0f8 EFLAGS: 00000217 ORIG_RAX: 00000000000000d9 [ 667.125181][ T9805] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 00007fa8753b2fc9 [ 667.125185][ T9805] RDX: 0000000000000400 RSI: 00002000000063c0 RDI: 0000000000000004 [ 667.125190][ T9805] RBP: 00007ffe96f8e110 R08: 00007ffe96f8e110 R09: 00007ffe96f8e110 [ 667.125195][ T9805] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000217 R12: 0000556b1e3b4260 [ 667.125199][ T9805] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 [ 667.125207][ T9805] </TASK> [ 667.125210][ T9805] [ 667.145632][ T9805] Allocated by task 9805: [ 667.145991][ T9805] kasan_save_stack+0x20/0x40 [ 667.146352][ T9805] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 667.146717][ T9805] __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 [ 667.147065][ T9805] __kmalloc_noprof+0x205/0x550 [ 667.147448][ T9805] hfsplus_find_init+0x95/0x1f0 [ 667.147813][ T9805] hfsplus_readdir+0x220/0xfc0 [ 667.148174][ T9805] iterate_dir+0x296/0xb20 [ 667.148549][ T9805] __x64_sys_getdents64+0x13c/0x2c0 [ 667.148937][ T9805] do_syscall_64+0xc9/0x480 [ 667.149291][ T9805] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [ 667.149809][ T9805] [ 667.150030][ T9805] The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff88802592f000 [ 667.150030][ T9805] which belongs to the cache kmalloc-2k of size 2048 [ 667.151282][ T9805] The buggy address is located 0 bytes to the right of [ 667.151282][ T9805] allocated 1036-byte region [ffff88802592f000, ffff88802592f40c) [ 667.1 ---truncated---

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-125

The code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds read 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:>= 2.6.12.1, < 5.4.297>= 5.5, < 5.10.241>= 5.11, < 5.15.190>= 5.16, < 6.1.149>= 6.2, < 6.6.103>= 6.7, < 6.12.43>= 6.13, < 6.15.11>= 6.16, < 6.16.2= 2.6.12
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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 6.1.149+ (or 5.15.190+, 5.10.241+, 5.4.297+ depending on branch)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Download and install a kernel version that includes the fix: for 6.1.x branch use >= 6.1.149, for 5.15.x use >= 5.15.190, for 5.10.x use >= 5.10.241, or for 5.4.x use >= 5.4.297
  3. For Debian 11 (Bullseye), check available kernel updates via `apt update && apt-cache policy linux-image-*` and install a patched version if available, or consider upgrading to Debian 12 which includes newer kernels
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the fix by running `modinfo hfsplus` and confirming the kernel version with `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuild of out-of-tree modules; ensure compatibility with system hardware and critical software 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 $3,200. 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-2025-38713 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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