CVE-2025-38538

  • Published: 2025-08-16T12:15:29.593

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

dmaengine: nbpfaxi: Fix memory corruption in probe()

The nbpf->chan[] array is allocated earlier in the nbpf_probe() function
and it has “num_channels” elements. These three loops iterate one
element farther than they should and corrupt memory.

The changes to the second loop are more involved. In this case, we’re
copying data from the irqbuf[] array into the nbpf->chan[] array. If
the data in irqbuf[i] is the error IRQ then we skip it, so the iterators
are not in sync. I added a check to ensure that we don’t go beyond the
end of the irqbuf[] array. I’m pretty sure this can’t happen, but it
seemed harmless to add a check.

On the other hand, after the loop has ended there is a check to ensure
that the “chan” iterator is where we expect it to be. In the original
code we went one element beyond the end of the array so the iterator
wasn’t in the correct place and it would always return -EINVAL. However,
now it will always be in the correct place. I deleted the check since
we know the result.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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How to fix CVE-2025-38538

CVE-2025-38538 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: nbpfaxi: Fix memory corruption in probe() The nbpf->chan[] array is allocated earlier in the nbpf_probe() function and it has “num_channels” elements. These three loops iterate one element farther than they should and corrupt memory. The changes to the second loop are more involved. In […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Aug 16, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.