CVE-2025-38328

Local denial of service via unchecked allocation failure

Published Jul 10, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in Linux JFFS2 from 2.6.18 allows local users to crash the kernel through filesystem write activity. JFFS2 callers in fs/jffs2/erase.c and fs/jffs2/scan.c fail to check whether jffs2_prealloc_raw_node_refs() succeeded, then pass unallocated node references to jffs2_link_node_ref(). A low-privileged local user must exercise write and garbage-collection paths on a mounted JFFS2 filesystem; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in Linux JFFS2 from 2.6.18 allows local users to crash the kernel through filesystem write activity. JFFS2 callers in fs/jffs2/erase.c and fs/jffs2/scan.c fail to check whether jffs2_prealloc_raw_node_refs() succeeded, then pass unallocated node references to jffs2_link_node_ref(). A low-privileged local user must exercise write and garbage-collection paths on a mounted JFFS2 filesystem; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38328
Published
Jul 10, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-476, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 10, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=2.6.18
  2. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <042fa922c84b5080401bcd8897d4ac4919d15075
  3. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <2b6d96503255a3ed676cd70f8368870c6d6a25c6
  4. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <38d767fb4a7766ec2058f97787e4c6e8d10343d6
  5. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <7e860296d7808de1db175c1eda29f94a2955dcc4
  6. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <cd42ddddd70abc7127c12b96c8c85dbd080ea56f
  7. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <d1b81776f337a9b997f797c70ac0a26d838a2168
  8. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <d96e6451a8d0fe62492d4cc942d695772293c05a
  9. Affected versionversion=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <f41c625328777f9ad572901ba0b0065bb9c9c1da

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.18; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <042fa922c84b5080401bcd8897d4ac4919d15075; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <2b6d96503255a3ed676cd70f8368870c6d6a25c6; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <38d767fb4a7766ec2058f97787e4c6e8d10343d6; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <7e860296d7808de1db175c1eda29f94a2955dcc4; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <cd42ddddd70abc7127c12b96c8c85dbd080ea56f; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <d1b81776f337a9b997f797c70ac0a26d838a2168; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <d96e6451a8d0fe62492d4cc942d695772293c05a; version=2f785402f39b96a077b6e62bf26164bfb8e0c980 <f41c625328777f9ad572901ba0b0065bb9c9c1da

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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