What is CVE-2025-38281?

CVE-2025-38281 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 6.14 onward and patched in 6.15.3 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38281 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38281?

CVE-2025-38281 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-2025-38281?

Yes, CVE-2025-38281 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.3 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38281 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38281 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-2025-38281

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: mt76: mt7996: Add NULL check in mt7996_thermal_init devm_kasprintf() can return a NULL pointer on failure,but this returned value in mt7996_thermal_init() is not checked. Add NULL check in mt7996_thermal_init(), to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference error.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-07-10

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-2025-38281 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 6.14 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.15.3, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.14

Fixed in

✓ 6.15.3 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38281 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/8340cb173750c1ea99cd643006b72f8b0e6c21f2
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/caf4b347c5dc40fdd125793b5e82ba9fc4de5275
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38281

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-07-10

Modified 2025-11-19

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38281?

CVE-2025-38281 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 6.14 onward and has been patched in 6.15.3 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38281 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38281?

CVE-2025-38281 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-2025-38281?

Yes — CVE-2025-38281 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.3 and 6.16. If you are running Linux kernel 6.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38281 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38281 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 →