CVE-2022-38096 | There is a NULL pointer vulnerability in vmwgfx driver

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in vmwgfx driver in drivers/gpu/vmxgfx/vmxgfx_execbuf.c in GPU component of Linux kernel with device file '/dev/dri/renderD128 (or Dxxx)'. This flaw allows a local attacker with a user account on the system to gain privilege, causing a denial of service(DoS).

Published: 2022-09-09 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-38096 is rated Moderate Risk (40.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.57%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-38096

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.57% +0.55%
2 2025-11-21 0.16% 0.02% -0.14%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.16% —

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-38096

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.1 4.2 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-38096

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2022-38096

GHSA-4vrg-gm73-c852 · Severity: medium — A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in vmwgfx driver in drivers/gpu/vmxgfx...

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-38096

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-38096 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-38096
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-38096
suse medium CVE-2022-38096 severity moderate: SUSE including 685 source package names (15.5:kernel-default-devel-5.14.21-150500.55.7.1, 15.5:kernel-devel-5.14.21-150500.55.7.1, …), 1424 product×package rows across 281 product lines (Container bci/bci-sle15-kernel-module-devel, Container rancher/elemental-teal-rt/5.3, … (281 product lines)): Fixed 1276, Known Affected 142, Known Not Affected 6. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-38096/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-38096 medium priority: Ubuntu including 167 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner, …), 1774 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1316, released 186, ignored 170, not-affected 100, deferred 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-38096

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-38096

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-38096

cvelogic Threat Intelligence