Kernel crash via uninitialized camera device pointer
Published May 20, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL-pointer dereference in the bcm2835 camera driver in Linux 6.10 allows local users with administrative privileges to crash the kernel. The mmal_init path passes dev->v4l2_dev.dev to vchiq_mmal_init even though bcm2835_mmal_probe never initializes that device pointer. Triggering requires root or CAP_SYS_ADMIN access to bind or unbind the driver through sysfs, and successful triggering interrupts the entire system.
Summary
What happened
NULL-pointer dereference in the bcm2835 camera driver in Linux 6.10 allows local users with administrative privileges to crash the kernel. The mmal_init path passes dev->v4l2_dev.dev to vchiq_mmal_init even though bcm2835_mmal_probe never initializes that device pointer. Triggering requires root or CAP_SYS_ADMIN access to bind or unbind the driver through sysfs, and successful triggering interrupts the entire system.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-37971
- Published
- May 20, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 20, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=42a2f6664e18874302623f31edef545ef41e1d14 <06753f49336ab161ea0e249a0720125b81b7b31b
- Affected versionversion=42a2f6664e18874302623f31edef545ef41e1d14 <98698ca0e58734bc5c1c24e5bbc7429f981cd186
- Affected versionversion=42a2f6664e18874302623f31edef545ef41e1d14 <b70bdd4923e8b8edbacde2af83ca337bb7005261
- Affected versionversion=6.10
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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