Kernel crash via zero-bit HID report conversion
Published Aug 19, 2025 · Updated Jun 11, 2026
Out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel allows local users to crash the system by supplying a malformed HID report with a zero-sized field. The HID-core s32ton() routine shifts a 32-bit quantity by a count derived from report_size without handling a value of zero, triggering a shift-out-of-bounds exception. Reachability requires local access and processing of a device report containing the zero-sized field; the documented consequence is a kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel allows local users to crash the system by supplying a malformed HID report with a zero-sized field. The HID-core s32ton() routine shifts a 32-bit quantity by a count derived from report_size without handling a value of zero, triggering a shift-out-of-bounds exception. Reachability requires local access and processing of a device report containing the zero-sized field; the documented consequence is a kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38556
- Published
- Aug 19, 2025
- Updated
- Jun 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-125, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 19, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 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=2.6.20
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <3c86548a20d7bc2861aa4de044991a327bebad1a
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <6cdf6c708717c5c6897d0800a1793e83757c7491
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <810189546cb6c8f36443ed091d91f1f5d2fc2ec7
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <865ad8469fa24de1559f247d9426ab01e5ce3a56
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <8b4a94b1510f6a46ec48494b52ee8f67eb4fc836
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <a6b87bfc2ab5bccb7ad953693c85d9062aef3fdd
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <d3b504146c111548ab60b6ef7aad00bfb1db05a2
- Affected versionversion=dde5845a529ff753364a6d1aea61180946270bfa <eeeaba737919bdce9885e2a00ac2912f61a3684d
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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