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CVE-2025-38478

MEDIUMCVSS 5.5/10EPSS 0.15%

Last modified

CVE-2025-38478 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.5/10 on the CVSS scale. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: comedi: Fix initialization of data for instructions that write to subdevice Some Comedi subdevice instruction handlers are known to access instruction data elements beyond the first `insn->n` elements in some cases. The `do_insn_ioctl()` and `do_insnlist_ioctl()` functions allocate at least `MIN_SAMPLES` (16) data elements to deal with this, but they do not initialize all of that. EPSS estimates a 0.15% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: comedi: Fix initialization of data for instructions that write to subdevice Some Comedi subdevice instruction handlers are known to access instruction data elements beyond the first `insn->n` elements in some cases. The `do_insn_ioctl()` and `do_insnlist_ioctl()` functions allocate at least `MIN_SAMPLES` (16) data elements to deal with this, but they do not initialize all of that. For Comedi instruction codes that write to the subdevice, the first `insn->n` data elements are copied from user-space, but the remaining elements are left uninitialized. That could be a problem if the subdevice instruction handler reads the uninitialized data. Ensure that the first `MIN_SAMPLES` elements are initialized before calling these instruction handlers, filling the uncopied elements with 0. For `do_insnlist_ioctl()`, the same data buffer elements are used for handling a list of instructions, so ensure the first `MIN_SAMPLES` elements are initialized for each instruction that writes to the subdevice.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability
0.15%

4.5th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

VendorProductVersionsUpdate
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 2.6.29, < 5.4.297—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.5, < 5.10.241—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.11, < 5.15.190—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.16, < 6.1.147—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.2, < 6.6.100—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.7, < 6.12.40—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.13, < 6.15.8—
LinuxLinux Kernel6.16Rc1
DebianDebian Linux11.0—

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-38478?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: comedi: Fix initialization of data for instructions that write to subdevice Some Comedi subdevice instruction handlers are known to access instruction data elements beyond the first `insn->n` elements in some cases. The `do_insn_ioctl()` and `do_insnlist_ioctl()` functions allocate at least `MIN_SAMPLES` (16) data elements to deal with this, but they do not initialize all of that. For Comedi instruction codes that write to the subdevice, the first `insn->n` data elements are copied from user-space, but the remaining elements are left uninitialized. That could be a problem if the subdevice instruction handler reads the uninitialized data. Ensure that the first `MIN_SAMPLES` elements are initialized before calling these instruction handlers, filling the uncopied elements with 0. For `do_insnlist_ioctl()`, the same data buffer elements are used for handling a list of instructions, so ensure the first `MIN_SAMPLES` elements are initialized for each instruction that writes to the subdevice.
How severe is CVE-2025-38478?
CVE-2025-38478 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.15% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38478?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST