CVE-2025-38243 | btrfs: fix invalid inode pointer dereferences during log replay

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix invalid inode pointer dereferences during log replay In a few places where we call read_one_inode(), if we get a NULL pointer we end up jumping into an error path, or fallthrough in case of __add_inode_ref(), where we then do something like this: iput(&inode->vfs_inode); which results in an invalid inode pointer that triggers an invalid memory access, resulting in a crash. Fix this by making sure we don't do such dereferences.

Published: 2025-07-09 Last update: 2025-11-19 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-38243 is rated Low Risk (23.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2025-38243

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 2025-07-09 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38243

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38243

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38243

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-38243 unimportant 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-2025-38243
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38243
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38243/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38243 medium priority: Ubuntu including 144 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1286 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 922, ignored 151, not-affected 136, released 77. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38243

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38243

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.15, < 6.15.5 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38243

cvelogic Threat Intelligence