What is CVE-2025-38674?

CVE-2025-38674 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 6.15.9 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38674 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38674?

CVE-2025-38674 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-2025-38674?

Yes, CVE-2025-38674 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.9 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-2025-38674 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-38674 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-2025-38674

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "drm/prime: Use dma_buf from GEM object instance" This reverts commit f83a9b8c7fd0557b0c50784bfdc1bbe9140c9bf8. The dma_buf field in struct drm_gem_object is not stable over the object instance's lifetime. The field becomes NULL when user space releases the final GEM handle on the buffer object. This resulted in a NULL-pointer deref. Workarounds in commit 5307dce878d4 ("drm/gem: Acquire references on GEM handles for framebuffers") and commit f6bfc9afc751 ("drm/framebuffer: Acquire internal references on GEM handles") only solved the problem partially. They especially don't work for buffer objects without a DRM framebuffer associated. Hence, this revert to going back to using .import_attach->dmabuf. v3: - cc stable

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-08-22

Last modified 2025-11-25

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-2025-38674 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 6.15.9, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.15

Fixed in

✓ 6.15.9 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38674 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/5f05d83ce689a8930a70dfa73f879604aef8cc03
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb4ef4a52b79a22ad382bfe77332642d02aef773
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-38674

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-08-22

Modified 2025-11-25

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38674?

CVE-2025-38674 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 6.15.9 and 6.16. CVE-2025-38674 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38674?

CVE-2025-38674 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-2025-38674?

Yes — CVE-2025-38674 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.15.9 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-2025-38674 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-38674 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 →