CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2025-38497NVD status: Analyzed

Linux: Out-of-bounds Read

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2025-38497 is a high-severity out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 78b41148cfea2a3f04d87adf3a71b21735820a37, d68b7c8fefbaeae8f065b84e40cf64baf4cc0c76, 15a87206879951712915c03c8952a73d6a74721e as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.19% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update Linux to 78b41148cfea2a3f04d87adf3a71b21735820a37 or d68b7c8fefbaeae8f065b84e40cf64baf4cc0c76 or 15a87206879951712915c03c8952a73d6a74721e or 2798111f8e504ac747cce911226135d50b8de468, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Linux Kernel to 5.4.297 or 5.10.241 or 5.15.190 or 6.1.147, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
LinuxLinux87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, 78b41148cfea2a3f04d87adf3a71b21735820a37; 87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, d68b7c8fefbaeae8f065b84e40cf64baf4cc0c76; 87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, 15a87206879951712915c03c8952a73d6a74721e; 87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, 2798111f8e504ac747cce911226135d50b8de468; 87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, 58bdd5160184645771553ea732da5c2887fc9bd1; 87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, 783ea37b237a9b524f1e5ca018ea17d772ee0ea0; 87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, 22b7897c289cc25d99c603f5144096142a30d897; 87213d388e927aaa88b21d5ff7e1f75ca2288da1 up to, but not including, 3014168731b7930300aab656085af784edc861f6; and 1 more ranges78b41148cfea2a3f04d87adf3a71b21735820a37, d68b7c8fefbaeae8f065b84e40cf64baf4cc0c76, 15a87206879951712915c03c8952a73d6a74721e, 2798111f8e504ac747cce911226135d50b8de468, 58bdd5160184645771553ea732da5c2887fc9bd1, 783ea37b237a9b524f1e5ca018ea17d772ee0ea0
LinuxLinux Kernel3.16 up to, but not including, 5.4.297; 5.5 up to, but not including, 5.10.241; 5.11 up to, but not including, 5.15.190; 5.16 up to, but not including, 6.1.147; 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.100; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.12.40; 6.13 up to, but not including, 6.15.8; 6.165.4.297, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, 6.6.100, 6.12.40
DebianDebian Linux11.0Not stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
NoneNothing can be modified.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: gadget: configfs: Fix OOB read on empty string write When writing an empty string to either 'qw_sign' or 'landingPage' sysfs attributes, the store functions attempt to access page[l - 1] before validating that the length 'l' is greater than zero. This patch fixes the vulnerability by adding a check at the beginning of os_desc_qw_sign_store() and webusb_landingPage_store() to handle the zero-length input case gracefully by returning immediately.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Out-of-bounds Read

The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.

More Out-of-bounds Read vulnerabilities (CWE-125)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Out-of-bounds Read vulnerabilities

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