CVE-2025-38337

Kernel crash via jbd2 transaction dereference race

Published Jul 10, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during jbd2 metadata journaling. jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata dereferences handle->h_transaction before checking whether the handle is aborted, while concurrent accesses to jh->b_modified lack the required data-race annotation. Reachability requires local activity that drives concurrent ext4 inode metadata updates; the documented consequence is a kernel crash rather than data access or code execution.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during jbd2 metadata journaling. jbd2_journal_dirty_metadata dereferences handle->h_transaction before checking whether the handle is aborted, while concurrent accesses to jh->b_modified lack the required data-race annotation. Reachability requires local activity that drives concurrent ext4 inode metadata updates; the documented consequence is a kernel crash rather than data access or code execution.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38337
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

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=4.3
  2. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <23361b479f2700c00960d3ae9cdc8ededa762d47
  3. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <2e7c64d7a92c031d016f11c8e8cb05131ab7b75a
  4. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <43d5e3bb5f1dcd91e30238ea0b59a5f77063f84e
  5. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <5c1a34ff5b0bfdfd2f9343aa9b08d25df618bac5
  6. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <a377996d714afb8d4d5f4906336f78510039da29
  7. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <af98b0157adf6504fade79b3e6cb260c4ff68e37
  8. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <ec669e5bf409f16e464bfad75f0ba039a45de29a
  9. Affected versionversion=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <f78b38af3540b4875147b7b884ee11a27b3dbf4c

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.3; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <23361b479f2700c00960d3ae9cdc8ededa762d47; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <2e7c64d7a92c031d016f11c8e8cb05131ab7b75a; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <43d5e3bb5f1dcd91e30238ea0b59a5f77063f84e; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <5c1a34ff5b0bfdfd2f9343aa9b08d25df618bac5; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <a377996d714afb8d4d5f4906336f78510039da29; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <af98b0157adf6504fade79b3e6cb260c4ff68e37; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <ec669e5bf409f16e464bfad75f0ba039a45de29a; version=6e06ae88edae77379bef7c0cb7d3c2dd88676867 <f78b38af3540b4875147b7b884ee11a27b3dbf4c

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS: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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 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.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo