What is CVE-2025-38540?

CVE-2025-38540 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 3.8 onward and patched in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. CVE-2025-38540 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38540?

CVE-2025-38540 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-2025-38540?

Yes, CVE-2025-38540 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.8 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-38540 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38540 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2025-38540

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: HID: quirks: Add quirk for 2 Chicony Electronics HP 5MP Cameras The Chicony Electronics HP 5MP Cameras (USB ID 04F2:B824 & 04F2:B82C) report a HID sensor interface that is not actually implemented. Attempting to access this non-functional sensor via iio_info causes system hangs as runtime PM tries to wake up an unresponsive sensor. Add these 2 devices to the HID ignore list since the sensor interface is non-functional by design and should not be exposed to userspace.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-08-16

Last modified 2026-01-22

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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 3.8 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189, 6.1.146, 6.6.99, 6.12.39, 6.15.7, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 3.8

Fixed in

✓ 5.4.296 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.240 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.189 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.146 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.99 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.39 6.12.x ✓ 6.15.7 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38540 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Debian Security
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html

Third Party Advisory
Debian Security
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html

Third Party Advisory
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b297ab6f38ca60a4ca7298b297944ec6043b2f4
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2b0931eee48208c25bb77486946dea8e96aa6a36
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/35f1a5360ac68d9629abbb3930a0a07901cba296
Patch

8 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38540

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-08-16

Modified 2026-01-22

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38540?

CVE-2025-38540 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 3.8 onward and has been patched in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. CVE-2025-38540 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38540?

CVE-2025-38540 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-2025-38540?

Yes — CVE-2025-38540 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.189 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.8 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-38540 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38540 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.