CVE-2025-38531 | iio: common: st_sensors: Fix use of uninitialize device structs

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: common: st_sensors: Fix use of uninitialize device structs Throughout the various probe functions &indio_dev->dev is used before it is initialized. This caused a kernel panic in st_sensors_power_enable() when the call to devm_regulator_bulk_get_enable() fails and then calls dev_err_probe() with the uninitialized device. This seems to only cause a panic with dev_err_probe(), dev_err(), dev_warn() and dev_info() don't seem to cause a panic, but are fixed as well. The issue is reported and traced here: [1]

Published: 2025-08-16 Last update: 2026-04-27 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38531 is rated Low Risk (27.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). Mandatory action: 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-2025-38531

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 2026-06-12 0.02% 0.05% +0.03%
2 2025-08-16 0.02%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38531

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-2025-38531

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-38531

GHSA-f266-g682-96xf · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: common: st_sensors: Fix...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38531

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-38531 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38531
redhat https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38531
suse medium CVE-2025-38531 severity moderate: SUSE including 472 source package names (2.1.3-6.73:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-34.1.21.11, 2.1.3-7.50:kernel-default-6.4.0-34.1, …), 939 product×package rows across 189 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (189 product lines)): Fixed 627, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 60, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38531/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38531 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 165, released 133, needed 78, not-affected 17, needs-triage 2, pending 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38531

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38531

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 6.12.40 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.8 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:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38531

cvelogic Threat Intelligence