CVE-2025-38716

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfs: fix general protection fault in hfs_find_init() The hfs_find_init() method can trigger the crash if tree pointer is NULL: [ 45.746290][ T9787] Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000008: 0000 [#1] SMP KAI [ 45.747287][ T9787] KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000040-0x0000000000000047] [ 45.748716][ T9787] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 9787 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.16.0-rc3 #10 PREEMPT(full) [ 45.750250][ T9787] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 45.751983][ T9787] RIP: 0010:hfs_find_init+0x86/0x230 [ 45.752834][ T9787] Code: c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 0f 85 9a 01 00 00 4c 8d 6b 40 48 c7 45 18 00 00 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc [ 45.755574][ T9787] RSP: 0018:ffffc90015157668 EFLAGS: 00010202 [ 45.756432][ T9787] RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffff819a4d09 [ 45.757457][ T9787] RDX: 0000000000000008 RSI: ffffffff819acd3a RDI: ffffc900151576e8 [ 45.758282][ T9787] RBP: ffffc900151576d0 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 45.758943][ T9787] R10: 0000000080000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000004 [ 45.759619][ T9787] R13: 0000000000000040 R14: ffff88802c50814a R15: 0000000000000000 [ 45.760293][ T9787] FS: 00007ffb72734540(0000) GS:ffff8880cec64000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 45.761050][ T9787] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 45.761606][ T9787] CR2: 00007f9bd8225000 CR3: 000000010979a000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 [ 45.762286][ T9787] Call Trace: [ 45.762570][ T9787] <TASK> [ 45.762824][ T9787] hfs_ext_read_extent+0x190/0x9d0 [ 45.763269][ T9787] ? submit_bio_noacct_nocheck+0x2dd/0xce0 [ 45.763766][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_ext_read_extent+0x10/0x10 [ 45.764250][ T9787] hfs_get_block+0x55f/0x830 [ 45.764646][ T9787] block_read_full_folio+0x36d/0x850 [ 45.765105][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_get_block+0x10/0x10 [ 45.765541][ T9787] ? const_folio_flags+0x5b/0x100 [ 45.765972][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_read_folio+0x10/0x10 [ 45.766415][ T9787] filemap_read_folio+0xbe/0x290 [ 45.766840][ T9787] ? __pfx_filemap_read_folio+0x10/0x10 [ 45.767325][ T9787] ? __filemap_get_folio+0x32b/0xbf0 [ 45.767780][ T9787] do_read_cache_folio+0x263/0x5c0 [ 45.768223][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_read_folio+0x10/0x10 [ 45.768666][ T9787] read_cache_page+0x5b/0x160 [ 45.769070][ T9787] hfs_btree_open+0x491/0x1740 [ 45.769481][ T9787] hfs_mdb_get+0x15e2/0x1fb0 [ 45.769877][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_mdb_get+0x10/0x10 [ 45.770316][ T9787] ? find_held_lock+0x2b/0x80 [ 45.770731][ T9787] ? lockdep_init_map_type+0x5c/0x280 [ 45.771200][ T9787] ? lockdep_init_map_type+0x5c/0x280 [ 45.771674][ T9787] hfs_fill_super+0x38e/0x720 [ 45.772092][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_fill_super+0x10/0x10 [ 45.772549][ T9787] ? snprintf+0xbe/0x100 [ 45.772931][ T9787] ? __pfx_snprintf+0x10/0x10 [ 45.773350][ T9787] ? do_raw_spin_lock+0x129/0x2b0 [ 45.773796][ T9787] ? find_held_lock+0x2b/0x80 [ 45.774215][ T9787] ? set_blocksize+0x40a/0x510 [ 45.774636][ T9787] ? sb_set_blocksize+0x176/0x1d0 [ 45.775087][ T9787] ? setup_bdev_super+0x369/0x730 [ 45.775533][ T9787] get_tree_bdev_flags+0x384/0x620 [ 45.775985][ T9787] ? __pfx_hfs_fill_super+0x10/0x10 [ 45.776453][ T9787] ? __pfx_get_tree_bdev_flags+0x10/0x10 [ 45.776950][ T9787] ? bpf_lsm_capable+0x9/0x10 [ 45.777365][ T9787] ? security_capable+0x80/0x260 [ 45.777803][ T9787] vfs_get_tree+0x8e/0x340 [ 45.778203][ T9787] path_mount+0x13de/0x2010 [ 45.778604][ T9787] ? kmem_cache_free+0x2b0/0x4c0 [ 45.779052][ T9787] ? __pfx_path_mount+0x10/0x10 [ 45.779480][ T9787] ? getname_flags.part.0+0x1c5/0x550 [ 45.779954][ T9787] ? putname+0x154/0x1a0 [ 45.780335][ T9787] __x64_sys_mount+0x27b/0x300 [ 45.780758][ T9787] ? __pfx___x64_sys_mount+0x10/0x10 [ 45.781232][ T9787] ---truncated---

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2025-09-04 16:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-19 21:10 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.2% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 5.5 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2025-09-04 16:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-19 21:10 UTC

Exploit probability

0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-476 · NULL pointer dereference

Record status

Analyzed

Affected

• Linux Kernel < 6.6.103
• Linux Kernel < 6.12.43
• Linux Kernel < 6.15.11
• Linux Kernel < 6.16.2

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.5

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Is it in your code?

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