Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-38480)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-38480). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Exploitable via INSN_READ. Mitigation: upgrade to 5.4.297, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, 6.6.100, 6.12.40, 6.15.8 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

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

comedi: Fix use of uninitialized data in insn_rw_emulate_bits()

For Comedi INSN_READ and INSN_WRITE instructions on "digital"
subdevices (subdevice types COMEDI_SUBD_DI, COMEDI_SUBD_DO, and
COMEDI_SUBD_DIO), it is common for the subdevice driver not to have
insn_read and insn_write handler functions, but to have an
insn_bits handler function for handling Comedi INSN_BITS
instructions. In that case, the subdevice's insn_read and/or
insn_write function handler pointers are set to point to the
insn_rw_emulate_bits() function by __comedi_device_postconfig().

For INSN_WRITE, insn_rw_emulate_bits() currently assumes that the
supplied data[0] value is a valid copy from user memory. It will at
least exist because do_insnlist_ioctl() and do_insn_ioctl() in
"comedi_fops.c" ensure at lease MIN_SAMPLES (16) elements are
allocated. However, if insn->n is 0 (which is allowable for
INSN_READ and INSN_WRITE instructions, then data[0] may contain
uninitialized data, and certainly contains invalid data, possibly from a
different instruction in the array of instructions handled by
do_insnlist_ioctl(). This will result in an incorrect value being
written to the digital output channel (or to the digital input/output
channel if configured as an output), and may be reflected in the
internal saved state of the channel.

Fix it by returning 0 early if insn->n is 0, before reach…

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-38480 has been found in Kernel.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like INSN_READ over the network to misuse the product.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 5.4.297, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, 6.6.100, 6.12.40, 6.15.8 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2025-38480" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2025-38480 (Kernel)
Attack surface: INSN_READ / INSN_WRITE / COMEDI_SUBD_DI / COMEDI_SUBD_DO
Patched: 5.4.297, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, 6.6.100, 6.12.40, 6.15.8 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via INSN_READ.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel. Attack surface: INSN_READ / INSN_WRITE / COMEDI_SUBD_DI / COMEDI_SUBD_DO.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 5.4.297, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, 6.6.100, 6.12.40, 6.15.8.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Kernel' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'Kernel' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で Kernel を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade Kernel to 5.4.297, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, 6.6.100, 6.12.40, 6.15.8
```
ステージング環境で 5.4.297, 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, 6.6.100, 6.12.40, 6.15.8 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
3
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2.6.29"},{"fixed":"5.4.297"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.5.0"},{"fixed":"5.10.241"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.11.0"},{"fixed":"5.15.190"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"5.16.0"},{"fixed":"6.1.147"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.2.0"},{"fixed":"6.6.100"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.7.0"},{"fixed":"6.12.40"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.13.0"},{"fixed":"6.15.8"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2025-38480 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.1.147-r0
Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38480 linux Fixed in: 5.10.244-1
Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38480 linux