Local kernel crash via unchecked allocation failure
Published Aug 22, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during DaVinci clock registration. davinci_lpsc_clk_register() fails to check whether devm_kasprintf() returned NULL after an allocation failure and continues into a NULL pointer dereference. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, memory-allocation failure, and an affected kernel using the DaVinci clock driver; the reported consequence is availability loss only.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in affected Linux kernel releases allows local users to crash the kernel during DaVinci clock registration. davinci_lpsc_clk_register() fails to check whether devm_kasprintf() returned NULL after an allocation failure and continues into a NULL pointer dereference. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, memory-allocation failure, and an affected kernel using the DaVinci clock driver; the reported consequence is availability loss only.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38635
- Published
- Aug 22, 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
- Aug 22, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- 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.
- Affected versionversion=4.17
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <105e8115944a9f93e9412abe7bb07ed96725adf9
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <13de464f445d42738fe18c9a28bab056ba3a290a
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <1d92608a29251278015f57f3572bc950db7519f0
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <23f564326deaafacfd7adf6104755b15216d8320
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <2adc945b70c4d97e9491a6c0c9f3b217a9eecfba
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <6fb19cdcf040e1dec052a9032acb66cc2ad1d43f
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <77e9ad7a2d0e2a771c9e0be04b9d1639413b5f13
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <7843412e5927dafbb844782c56b6380564064109
- Affected versionversion=c6ed4d734bc7f731709dab0ffd69eed499dd5277 <7943ed1f05f5cb7372dca2aa227f848747a98791
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
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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