CVE-2025-38609 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PM / devfreq: Check governor before using governor->name Commit 96ffcdf239de ("PM / devfreq: Remove redundant governor_name from struct devfreq") removes governor_name and uses governor->name to replace it. But devfreq->governor may be NULL and directly using devfreq->governor->name may cause null pointer exception. Move the check of governor to before using governor->name.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2025-08-20	—	0.02%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2025-08-20

—

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-2025-38609

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2025-38609 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-2025-38609
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38609
`suse`	medium	CVE-2025-38609 severity moderate: SUSE including 478 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, …), 1014 product×package rows across 197 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (197 product lines)): Fixed 627, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 135, First Fixed 21.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38609/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2025-38609 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, released 165, ignored 161, not-affected 63, needed 4, needs-triage 2, pending 2.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38609

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38609

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.11, < 5.15.190	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 5.16, < 6.1.148	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.6.102	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.7, < 6.12.42	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.13, < 6.15.10	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.16, < 6.16.1	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
debian	debian_linux	11.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2025-38609

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2731c68f536fddcb71332db7f8d78c5eb4684c04	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/631e101728df2a86b8fb761b49fad9712c651f8a	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75323a49aa603cf5484a6d74d0d329e86d756e11	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81f50619370045120c133bfdda5b320c8c97d41e	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bab7834c03820eb11269bc48f07c3800192460d2	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5632359dbc44862fc1ed04093c1f57529830261	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0479e878d4beb45e73c03e574c59f0a23ccd176	Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2025-38609 | PM / devfreq: Check governor before using governor->name

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38609

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38609

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38609

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38609

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38609

References for CVE-2025-38609