CVE-2025-38612

Service interruption via leaked deferred-I/O page references

Published Aug 19, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Memory leak in the fbtft framebuffer driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through repeated device setup failures. After fb_deferred_io_init() allocates info->pagerefs, fbtft_framebuffer_alloc() omits fb_deferred_io_cleanup() from later error paths. Reachability requires local low-privilege access and an fbtft device configuration that enters those failure paths; the bounded impact is service interruption from kernel-memory exhaustion.

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

What happened

Memory leak in the fbtft framebuffer driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through repeated device setup failures. After fb_deferred_io_init() allocates info->pagerefs, fbtft_framebuffer_alloc() omits fb_deferred_io_cleanup() from later error paths. Reachability requires local low-privilege access and an fbtft device configuration that enters those failure paths; the bounded impact is service interruption from kernel-memory exhaustion.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38612
Published
Aug 19, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499
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=4.0
  2. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <3290f62f23fae05f2ec34085eb86dfb3648ef91f
  3. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <47b3d6e8921bbb7b65c2dab8eaa8864901848c1c
  4. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <6771f121ae87490ddc19eabb7450383af9e01b6d
  5. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <6f9e2cf9e9c1a891a683329af35bb33ed9d38b5f
  6. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <83ea0c7b8d12c67f6c4703d6c458627a7fc45fc0
  7. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <a3177955f8da3c826a18b75e54881e2e9a9c96f1
  8. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <b31cf6f7716a5d3e4461763f32d812acdaec6e74
  9. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <c3b1c45c48117ed4d8797ee89d1155f16b72d490
  10. Affected versionversion=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <eb2cb7dab60f9be0b435ac4a674255429a36d72c

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.0; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <3290f62f23fae05f2ec34085eb86dfb3648ef91f; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <47b3d6e8921bbb7b65c2dab8eaa8864901848c1c; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <6771f121ae87490ddc19eabb7450383af9e01b6d; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <6f9e2cf9e9c1a891a683329af35bb33ed9d38b5f; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <83ea0c7b8d12c67f6c4703d6c458627a7fc45fc0; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <a3177955f8da3c826a18b75e54881e2e9a9c96f1; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <b31cf6f7716a5d3e4461763f32d812acdaec6e74; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <c3b1c45c48117ed4d8797ee89d1155f16b72d490; version=c296d5f9957c03994a699d6739c27d4581a9f6c7 <eb2cb7dab60f9be0b435ac4a674255429a36d72c

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5Oracle LinuxCVSS: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-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
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

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Your stack

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