CVE-2025-38609 json
PM / devfreq: Check governor before using governor->name
published 2025-08-19 14 mo ago modified 2026-11-05 3 d ago also EUVD-2025-26090
- cvss
- 5.5
- version 3.1, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 5%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
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.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 5.15.190, 6.1.148, 6.6.102, 6.12.42, 6.15.10, 6.16.1, 6.17
- linux Debian 12 6.1.148-1
- linux Debian 13 6.12.43-1
- linux Debian 14 6.16.3-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38609
- linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-163.173
- linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-100.100
- linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1097.104
- linux-aws Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1046.49
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1097.106
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1047.50
- linux-gke Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1093.99
- linux-gke Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1043.48
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38609
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-rt Linux Micro 6.2 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-64kb SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-source SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-default SLES 16.0, SLE High Availability Extension 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2 +1 more 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-default-base SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4
- kernel-syms SLES 16.0, Linux Micro Extras 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-obs-qa SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-kvmsmall SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2025:21074-1SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1SUSE-SU-2026:20560-1SUSE-SU-2025:21179-1SUSE-SU-2025:03634-1SUSE-SU-2025:03633-1
- kernel-rt openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-source openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-default openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
- kernel-kvmsmall openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.6.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2025:20081-1
- kernel Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.104.2-1
- kernel CBL-Mariner 2.0 5.15.200.1-1
azure linux advisories AZL-66470AZL-73605
Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0479e878d4beb45e73c03e574c59f0a23ccd176 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/631e101728df2a86b8fb761b49fad9712c651f8a commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/81f50619370045120c133bfdda5b320c8c97d41e commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d5632359dbc44862fc1ed04093c1f57529830261 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/2731c68f536fddcb71332db7f8d78c5eb4684c04 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/75323a49aa603cf5484a6d74d0d329e86d756e11 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/bab7834c03820eb11269bc48f07c3800192460d2 commit
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2025-38609 updated cvss 4.7
kernel: PM / devfreq: Check governor before using governor->name
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernelaffected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 morenot affected: vulnerable code not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
- Assessed
- 3 d ago
Exploit prediction
0.17% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 5% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVD | 3.1 | 5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference
- Technology feeds
References
-
git.kernel.org
/stable/c/f0479e878d4beb45e73c03e574c59f0a23ccd176
patch
-
git.kernel.org
/stable/c/631e101728df2a86b8fb761b49fad9712c651f8a
patch
-
git.kernel.org
/stable/c/81f50619370045120c133bfdda5b320c8c97d41e
patch
-
git.kernel.org
/stable/c/d5632359dbc44862fc1ed04093c1f57529830261
patch
-
git.kernel.org
/stable/c/2731c68f536fddcb71332db7f8d78c5eb4684c04
patch
-
git.kernel.org
/stable/c/75323a49aa603cf5484a6d74d0d329e86d756e11
patch
-
git.kernel.org
/stable/c/bab7834c03820eb11269bc48f07c3800192460d2
patch
-
lists.debian.org
/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html
third-party-advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2025-38609
- NVD CVE-2025-38609
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