CVE-2025-38142 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwmon: (asus-ec-sensors) check sensor index in read_string() Prevent a potential invalid memory access when the requested sensor is not found. find_ec_sensor_index() may return a negative value (e.g. -ENOENT), but its result was used without checking, which could lead to undefined behavior when passed to get_sensor_info(). Add a proper check to return -EINVAL if sensor_index is negative. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with SVACE. [groeck: Return error code returned from find_ec_sensor_index]

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-04-29	0.03%	0.07%	+0.04%
2	2025-11-29	0.07%	0.03%	-0.04%
3	2025-11-21	—	0.07%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-04-29

0.03%

0.07%

+0.04%

2025-11-29

0.07%

0.03%

-0.04%

2025-11-21

—

0.07%

—

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-2025-38142

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2025-38142 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-2025-38142
`redhat`	—	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38142
`suse`	medium	CVE-2025-38142 severity moderate: SUSE including 476 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, …), 1108 product×package rows across 216 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (216 product lines)): Fixed 627, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 229, First Fixed 21.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38142/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2025-38142 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, ignored 164, released 137, not-affected 100, needed 2, needs-triage 2, pending 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38142

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38142

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.18, < 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-2025-38142

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19bd9cde38dd4ca1771aed7afba623e7f4247c8e	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/25be318324563c63cbd9cb53186203a08d2f83a1	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4e9e45746b861ebd54c03ef301da2cb8fc990536	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bf529ce84dccc0074dbc704e70aee4aa545057e	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7eeb3df6f07a886bdfd52757ede127a59a8784dc	Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2025-38142 | hwmon: (asus-ec-sensors) check sensor index in read_string()

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38142

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38142

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38142

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38142

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38142

References for CVE-2025-38142