CVE-2025-38122 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gve: add missing NULL check for gve_alloc_pending_packet() in TX DQO gve_alloc_pending_packet() can return NULL, but gve_tx_add_skb_dqo() did not check for this case before dereferencing the returned pointer. Add a missing NULL check to prevent a potential NULL pointer dereference when allocation fails. This improves robustness in low-memory scenarios.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-04-29	0.02%	0.10%	+0.08%
2	2025-12-18	0.06%	0.02%	-0.04%
3	2025-12-11	—	0.06%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-04-29

0.02%

0.10%

+0.08%

2025-12-18

0.06%

0.02%

-0.04%

2025-12-11

—

0.06%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
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]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

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]

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38122

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2025-38122 unimportant priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38122
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38122
`suse`	medium	CVE-2025-38122 severity moderate: SUSE including 485 source package names (2.1.3-6.67:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-32.1.21.10, 2.1.3-7.44:kernel-default-6.4.0-32.1, …), 1004 product×package rows across 201 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (201 product lines)): Fixed 697, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 55, First Fixed 21.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38122/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2025-38122 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, released 169, ignored 164, not-affected 64, needed 6, needs-triage 2, pending 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38122

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38122

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.14, < 5.15.186	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.142	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.6.94	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.7, < 6.12.34	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.13, < 6.15.3	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
debian	debian_linux	11.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2025-38122

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/12c331b29c7397ac3b03584e12902990693bc248	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2e5ead9e4e91fbe7799bd38afd8904543be1cb51	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f6265fce3bd424ded666481b37f106d7915fb6b	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a0319c9b1648a67511e947a596ca86888451c0a7	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ae98a1787fdcb0096d122bc80d93c3c7d812c04b	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c741a7ef68023ac800054e2131c3e22e647fd7e3	Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2025-38122 | gve: add missing NULL check for gve_alloc_pending_packet() in TX DQO

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38122

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38122

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38122

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38122

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38122

References for CVE-2025-38122