CVE-2025-38712 | hfsplus: don't use BUG_ON() in hfsplus_create_attributes_file()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfsplus: don't use BUG_ON() in hfsplus_create_attributes_file() When the volume header contains erroneous values that do not reflect the actual state of the filesystem, hfsplus_fill_super() assumes that the attributes file is not yet created, which later results in hitting BUG_ON() when hfsplus_create_attributes_file() is called. Replace this BUG_ON() with -EIO error with a message to suggest running fsck tool.

Published: 2025-09-04 Last update: 2026-05-12 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38712 is rated Low Risk (23.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2025-38712

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 2026-01-29 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
2 2026-01-04 0.03% 0.06% +0.03%
3 2025-09-05 0.03%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38712

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-2025-38712

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2025-38712

GHSA-96vc-hjj8-mp82 · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hfsplus: don't use BUG_ON()...

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38712

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-38712 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-2025-38712
redhat https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38712
suse medium CVE-2025-38712 severity moderate: SUSE including 408 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, …), 774 product×package rows across 169 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (169 product lines)): Fixed 519, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 24. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38712/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-38712 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 180, released 150, needed 48, not-affected 16, needs-triage 2, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38712

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38712

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.13, < 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, < 6.1.149 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.103 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.43 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.15.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.16, < 6.16.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-38712

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03cd1db1494cf930e2fa042c9c13e32bffdb4eba Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1bb8da27ff15e346d4bc9e248e819c9a88ebf9d6 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9046566fa692f88954dac8c510f37ee17a15fdb7 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b3359392b75395a31af739a761f48f4041148226 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb0eea8e375677f586ad11c12e2525ed3fc698c2 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c7c6363ca186747ebc2df10c8a1a51e66e0e32d9 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce5e387f396cbb5c061d9837abcac731e9e06f4d Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d768e3ed430e89a699bf89d3214dcbbf4648c939 Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dee5c668ad71ddbcb4b48d95e8a4f371314ad41d Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-032379.html
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