How severe is CVE-2025-38050?

CVE-2025-38050 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2025-38050 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (4th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2025-38050?

CVE-2025-38050 primarily affects Linux Linux Kernel. In total, 8 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2025-38050?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.

Does CVE-2025-38050 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?

Yes. CVE-2025-38050 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-18603.

When was CVE-2025-38050 published?

CVE-2025-38050 was published on 2025-06-18 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2025-38050

CVE-2025-38050 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-476.

Key facts

Severity: Medium (CVSS 3.x base score 5.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (4th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2025-18603
Weakness: CWE-476
Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
Published: 2025-06-18
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix kernel NULL pointer dereference when replacing free hugetlb folios A kernel crash was observed when replacing free hugetlb folios: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000028 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 28 UID: 0 PID: 29639 Comm: test_cma.sh Tainted 6.15.0-rc6-zp #41 PREEMPT(voluntary) RIP: 0010:alloc_and_dissolve_hugetlb_folio+0x1d/0x1f0 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000b30fa90 EFLAGS: 00010286 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000342cca RCX: ffffea0043000000 RDX: ffffc9000b30fb08 RSI: ffffea0043000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffffc9000b30fb20 R08: 0000000000001000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: ffff88886f92eb00 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffea0043000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00000000010c0200 R15: 0000000000000004 FS: 00007fcda5f14740(0000) GS:ffff8888ec1d8000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000028 CR3: 0000000391402000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> replace_free_hugepage_folios+0xb6/0x100 alloc_contig_range_noprof+0x18a/0x590 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? down_read+0x12/0xa0 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f cma_range_alloc.constprop.0+0x131/0x290 __cma_alloc+0xcf/0x2c0 cma_alloc_write+0x43/0xb0 simple_attr_write_xsigned.constprop.0.isra.0+0xb2/0x110 debugfs_attr_write+0x46/0x70 full_proxy_write+0x62/0xa0 vfs_write+0xf8/0x420 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? filp_flush+0x86/0xa0 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? filp_close+0x1f/0x30 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? do_dup2+0xaf/0x160 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ksys_write+0x65/0xe0 do_syscall_64+0x64/0x170 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e There is a potential race between __update_and_free_hugetlb_folio() and replace_free_hugepage_folios(): CPU1 CPU2 __update_and_free_hugetlb_folio replace_free_hugepage_folios folio_test_hugetlb(folio) -- It's still hugetlb folio. __folio_clear_hugetlb(folio) hugetlb_free_folio(folio) h = folio_hstate(folio) -- Here, h is NULL pointer When the above race condition occurs, folio_hstate(folio) returns NULL, and subsequent access to this NULL pointer will cause the system to crash. To resolve this issue, execute folio_hstate(folio) under the protection of the hugetlb_lock lock, ensuring that folio_hstate(folio) does not return NULL.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38050?: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix kernel NULL pointer dereference when replacing free hugetlb folios A kernel crash was observed when replacing free hugetlb folios: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000028 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 28 UID: 0 PID: 29639 Comm: test_cma.sh Tainted 6.15.0-rc6-zp #41 PREEMPT(voluntary) RIP: 0010:alloc_and_dissolve_hugetlb_folio+0x1d/0x1f0 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000b30fa90 EFLAGS: 00010286 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000342cca RCX: ffffea0043000000 RDX: ffffc9000b30fb08 RSI: ffffea0043000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffffc9000b30fb20 R08: 0000000000001000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: ffff88886f92eb00 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffea0043000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00000000010c0200 R15: 0000000000000004 FS: 00007fcda5f14740(0000) GS:ffff8888ec1d8000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000028 CR3: 0000000391402000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> replace_free_hugepage_folios+0xb6/0x100 alloc_contig_range_noprof+0x18a/0x590 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? down_read+0x12/0xa0 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f cma_range_alloc.constprop.0+0x131/0x290 __cma_alloc+0xcf/0x2c0 cma_alloc_write+0x43/0xb0 simple_attr_write_xsigned.constprop.0.isra.0+0xb2/0x110 debugfs_attr_write+0x46/0x70 full_proxy_write+0x62/0xa0 vfs_write+0xf8/0x420 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? filp_flush+0x86/0xa0 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? filp_close+0x1f/0x30 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? do_dup2+0xaf/0x160 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ksys_write+0x65/0xe0 do_syscall_64+0x64/0x170 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e There is a potential race between __update_and_free_hugetlb_folio() and replace_free_hugepage_folios(): CPU1 CPU2 __update_and_free_hugetlb_folio replace_free_hugepage_folios folio_test_hugetlb(folio) -- It's still hugetlb folio. __folio_clear_hugetlb(folio) hugetlb_free_folio(folio) h = folio_hstate(folio) -- Here, h is NULL pointer When the above race condition occurs, folio_hstate(folio) returns NULL, and subsequent access to this NULL pointer will cause the system to crash. To resolve this issue, execute folio_hstate(folio) under the protection of the hugetlb_lock lock, ensuring that folio_hstate(folio) does not return NULL.
How severe is CVE-2025-38050?: CVE-2025-38050 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2025-38050 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (4th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2025-38050?: CVE-2025-38050 primarily affects Linux Linux Kernel. In total, 8 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38050?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2025-38050 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?: Yes. CVE-2025-38050 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-18603.
When was CVE-2025-38050 published?: CVE-2025-38050 was published on 2025-06-18 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (8)

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*

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