What is CVE-2025-38269?

CVE-2025-38269 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 6.7 onward and patched in 6.12.34, 6.15.3 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38269 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38269?

CVE-2025-38269 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-2025-38269?

Yes, CVE-2025-38269 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.34, 6.15.3 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38269 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38269 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-2025-38269

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: exit after state insertion failure at btrfs_convert_extent_bit() If insert_state() state failed it returns an error pointer and we call extent_io_tree_panic() which will trigger a BUG() call. However if CONFIG_BUG is disabled, which is an uncommon and exotic scenario, then we fallthrough and call cache_state() which will dereference the error pointer, resulting in an invalid memory access. So jump to the 'out' label after calling extent_io_tree_panic(), it also makes the code more clear besides dealing with the exotic scenario where CONFIG_BUG is disabled.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-07-10

Last modified 2025-11-20

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-2025-38269 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 6.7 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.34, 6.15.3, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.7

Fixed in

✓ 6.12.34 6.12.x ✓ 6.15.3 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38269 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/3bf179e36da917c5d9bec71c714573ed1649b7c1
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/58c50f45e1821a04d61b62514f9bd34afe67c622
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8d9d32088e304e2bc444a3087cab0bbbd9951866
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38269

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-07-10

Modified 2025-11-20

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38269?

CVE-2025-38269 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 6.7 onward and has been patched in 6.12.34, 6.15.3 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38269 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38269?

CVE-2025-38269 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-2025-38269?

Yes — CVE-2025-38269 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.34, 6.15.3 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.7 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38269 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38269 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 →