CVE-2025-38478
- Published: 2025-07-28T12:15:29.733
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
comedi: Fix initialization of data for instructions that write to subdevice
Some Comedi subdevice instruction handlers are known to access
instruction data elements beyond the first `insn->n` elements in some
cases. The `do_insn_ioctl()` and `do_insnlist_ioctl()` functions
allocate at least `MIN_SAMPLES` (16) data elements to deal with this,
but they do not initialize all of that. For Comedi instruction codes
that write to the subdevice, the first `insn->n` data elements are
copied from user-space, but the remaining elements are left
uninitialized. That could be a problem if the subdevice instruction
handler reads the uninitialized data. Ensure that the first
`MIN_SAMPLES` elements are initialized before calling these instruction
handlers, filling the uncopied elements with 0. For
`do_insnlist_ioctl()`, the same data buffer elements are used for
handling a list of instructions, so ensure the first `MIN_SAMPLES`
elements are initialized for each instruction that writes to the
subdevice.
Related CVE by CWE
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How to fix CVE-2025-38478
Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: comedi: Fix initialization of data for instructions that write to subdevice Some Comedi subdevice instruction handlers are known to access instruction data elements beyond the first `insn->n` elements in some cases. The `do_insn_ioctl()` and `do_insnlist_ioctl()` functions allocate at least `MIN_SAMPLES` (16) data elements to deal […]
Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public
How to Fix:
- Check if you're running the affected product
- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access
- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)
- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations
Exploit Difficulty Assessment
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CVE details first published to NVD database
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Detection Rules & IOCs
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No vendor/product data available.