CVE-2025-38609

Local kernel crash via NULL governor dereference

Published Aug 19, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

NULL pointer dereference in Linux devfreq from 5.11 allows local users to crash the kernel through device-frequency operations. The code in drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c reads devfreq->governor->name before confirming that the governor pointer is non-NULL. Reaching the fault requires local low-privileged access and an affected kernel using devfreq; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.16%
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 devfreq from 5.11 allows local users to crash the kernel through device-frequency operations. The code in drivers/devfreq/devfreq.c reads devfreq->governor->name before confirming that the governor pointer is non-NULL. Reaching the fault requires local low-privileged access and an affected kernel using devfreq; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38609
Published
Aug 19, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-476
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 19, 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=5.11
  2. Affected versionversion=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <2731c68f536fddcb71332db7f8d78c5eb4684c04
  3. Affected versionversion=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <631e101728df2a86b8fb761b49fad9712c651f8a
  4. Affected versionversion=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <75323a49aa603cf5484a6d74d0d329e86d756e11
  5. Affected versionversion=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <81f50619370045120c133bfdda5b320c8c97d41e
  6. Affected versionversion=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <bab7834c03820eb11269bc48f07c3800192460d2
  7. Affected versionversion=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <d5632359dbc44862fc1ed04093c1f57529830261
  8. Affected versionversion=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <f0479e878d4beb45e73c03e574c59f0a23ccd176

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.11; version=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <2731c68f536fddcb71332db7f8d78c5eb4684c04; version=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <631e101728df2a86b8fb761b49fad9712c651f8a; version=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <75323a49aa603cf5484a6d74d0d329e86d756e11; version=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <81f50619370045120c133bfdda5b320c8c97d41e; version=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <bab7834c03820eb11269bc48f07c3800192460d2; version=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <d5632359dbc44862fc1ed04093c1f57529830261; version=96ffcdf239de6f9970178bb7d643e16fd9e68ab9 <f0479e878d4beb45e73c03e574c59f0a23ccd176

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

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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

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

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Your stack

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