Kernel crash via unchecked USB interface lookup
Published Oct 29, 2025 · Updated Oct 29, 2025
NULL dereference in the ALSA USB-audio driver in affected Linux kernel releases allows attackers to crash the kernel with an invalid USB device. The try_to_register_card() function passes usb_ifnum_to_if() output to usb_interface_claimed() without checking whether the lookup returned NULL. Reaching the fault requires presenting malformed USB audio-device state, and the resulting kernel oops can interrupt the host or become a panic under configured kernel fault handling.
Summary
What happened
NULL dereference in the ALSA USB-audio driver in affected Linux kernel releases allows attackers to crash the kernel with an invalid USB device. The try_to_register_card() function passes usb_ifnum_to_if() output to usb_interface_claimed() without checking whether the lookup returned NULL. Reaching the fault requires presenting malformed USB audio-device state, and the resulting kernel oops can interrupt the host or become a panic under configured kernel fault handling.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-40085
- Published
- Oct 29, 2025
- Updated
- Oct 29, 2025
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- physical
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 29, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 29, 2025Record 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=28787ff9fbeaf57684eb64cc33e2ec8ceedf21b5 <736159f7b296d7a95f7208eb4799639b1f8b16a0
- Affected versionversion=39efc9c8a973ddff5918191525d1679d0fb368ea <28412b489b088fb88dff488305fd4e56bd47f6e4
- Affected versionversion=39efc9c8a973ddff5918191525d1679d0fb368ea <576312eb436326b44b7010f4d9ae2b698df075ea
- Affected versionversion=39efc9c8a973ddff5918191525d1679d0fb368ea <8503ac1a62075a085402e42a386b5c627c821a51
- Affected versionversion=39efc9c8a973ddff5918191525d1679d0fb368ea <8d19a7ab28c7b9c207db5c5282afa8cc8595bcdb
- Affected versionversion=39efc9c8a973ddff5918191525d1679d0fb368ea <bba7208765d26e5e36b87f21dacc2780b064f41f
- Affected versionversion=52076a41c128146c9df4a157e972cb17019313b1
- Affected versionversion=6.1
- Affected versionversion=9d4f4dc3cd38e412c29a7626489fe48b79ebbf6c
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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