CVE-2025-38543 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/tegra: nvdec: Fix dma_alloc_coherent error check Check for NULL return value with dma_alloc_coherent, in line with Robin's fix for vic.c in 'drm/tegra: vic: Fix DMA API misuse'.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2025-08-16	—	0.02%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2025-08-16

—

0.02%

—

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-2025-38543

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2025-38543 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-2025-38543
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38543
`suse`	medium	CVE-2025-38543 severity moderate: SUSE including 493 source package names (13.2-9.1:libsqlite3-0-3.49.1-1.1, 2.1.3-6.35:libsqlite3-0-3.49.1-1.1, …), 1058 product×package rows across 192 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, … (192 product lines)): Fixed 615, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 187, First Fixed 25.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38543/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2025-38543 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 161, released 133, not-affected 96, needed 3, needs-triage 2, pending 2.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38543

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38543

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.17, < 6.1.146	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.6.99	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.7, < 6.12.39	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.13, < 6.15.7	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::::::
debian	debian_linux	11.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2025-38543

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2e0812eedccd0629d73c9d0b1184a5db055df1da	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/44306a684cd1699b8562a54945ddc43e2abc9eab	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61b8d20962d00b7df117011c52f97cbb9c76a669	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a560de522374af931fa994d161db3667b0bb2545	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d1240029f97ac8c06db4dd4407bbbf83e8d08570	Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html	Mailing List Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2025-38543 | drm/tegra: nvdec: Fix dma_alloc_coherent error check

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38543

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38543

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38543

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38543

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38543

References for CVE-2025-38543