What is CVE-2025-38243?

CVE-2025-38243 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476), affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.15 onward and patched in 6.15.5 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38243 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38243?

CVE-2025-38243 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-38243?

Yes, CVE-2025-38243 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.5 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.15 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38243 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38243 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2025-38243

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix invalid inode pointer dereferences during log replay In a few places where we call read_one_inode(), if we get a NULL pointer we end up jumping into an error path, or fallthrough in case of __add_inode_ref(), where we then do something like this: iput(&inode->vfs_inode); which results in an invalid inode pointer that triggers an invalid memory access, resulting in a crash. Fix this by making sure we don't do such dereferences.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-07-09

Last modified 2025-11-19

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2025-38243 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.15 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.15.5, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.15

Fixed in

✓ 6.15.5 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38243 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2dcf838cf5c2f0f4501edaa1680fcad03618d760
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/401d098f92ea69d8a75f8b845daf343e511681ba
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ba8386d662cc51cc5382688bbf7a152b0b0b27cf
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38243

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-07-09

Modified 2025-11-19

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38243?

CVE-2025-38243 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.15 onward and has been patched in 6.15.5 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38243 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38243?

CVE-2025-38243 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-38243?

Yes — CVE-2025-38243 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.5 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.15 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38243 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38243 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. View CWE-476 on MITRE CWE →