CVE-2025-38668 | regulator: core: fix NULL dereference on unbind due to stale coupling data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: regulator: core: fix NULL dereference on unbind due to stale coupling data Failing to reset coupling_desc.n_coupled after freeing coupled_rdevs can lead to NULL pointer dereference when regulators are accessed post-unbind. This can happen during runtime PM or other regulator operations that rely on coupling metadata. For example, on ridesx4, unbinding the 'reg-dummy' platform device triggers a panic in regulator_lock_recursive() due to stale coupling state. Ensure n_coupled is set to 0 to prevent access to invalid pointers.

Published: 2025-08-22 Last update: 2026-01-08 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-2025-38668 is rated Low Risk (23.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.15%). 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-2025-38668

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 2026-06-15 0.04% 0.15% +0.11%
2 2026-01-09 0.06% 0.04% -0.02%
3 2025-11-04 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38668

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-2025-38668

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38668

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38668 not yet assigned 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-2025-38668
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38668
suse medium CVE-2025-38668 severity moderate: SUSE including 472 source package names (2.1.3-6.80:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-35.1.21.12, 2.1.3-7.57:kernel-default-6.4.0-35.1, …), 937 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 58, First Fixed 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38668/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38668 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 165, needed 46, not-affected 17, needs-triage 2, pending 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38668

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38668

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.3, < 5.4.297 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.241 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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, < 6.6.101 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.41 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.9 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:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38668

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/233d3c54c9620e95193923859ea1d0b0f5d748ca Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5d4261dbb3335221fd9c6e69f909ba79ee6663a7 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6c49eac796681e250e34156bafb643930310bd4a Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7574892e259bbb16262ebfb4b65a2054a5e03a49 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/800a2cfb2df7f96b3fb48910fc595e0215f6b019 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca46946a482238b0cdea459fb82fc837fb36260e Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca9bef9ba1a6be640c87bf802d2e9e696021576a Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7e59c5fd7a0f5e16e75a30a89ea2c4ab88612b8 Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Third Party Advisory
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