How severe is CVE-2025-38528?

CVE-2025-38528 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-2025-38528 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-2025-38528?

CVE-2025-38528 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-2025-38528?

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

Does CVE-2025-38528 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?

Yes. CVE-2025-38528 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-26113.

When was CVE-2025-38528 published?

CVE-2025-38528 was published on 2025-08-16 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2025-38528

CVE-2025-38528 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.

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-2025-26113
Affected product: Linux Linux Kernel
Published: 2025-08-16
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject %p% format string in bprintf-like helpers static const char fmt[] = "%p%"; bpf_trace_printk(fmt, sizeof(fmt)); The above BPF program isn't rejected and causes a kernel warning at runtime: Please remove unsupported %\x00 in format string WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7244 at lib/vsprintf.c:2680 format_decode+0x49c/0x5d0 This happens because bpf_bprintf_prepare skips over the second %, detected as punctuation, while processing %p. This patch fixes it by not skipping over punctuation. %\x00 is then processed in the next iteration and rejected.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38528?: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject %p% format string in bprintf-like helpers static const char fmt[] = "%p%"; bpf_trace_printk(fmt, sizeof(fmt)); The above BPF program isn't rejected and causes a kernel warning at runtime: Please remove unsupported %\x00 in format string WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7244 at lib/vsprintf.c:2680 format_decode+0x49c/0x5d0 This happens because bpf_bprintf_prepare skips over the second %, detected as punctuation, while processing %p. This patch fixes it by not skipping over punctuation. %\x00 is then processed in the next iteration and rejected.
How severe is CVE-2025-38528?: CVE-2025-38528 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-2025-38528 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-2025-38528?: CVE-2025-38528 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-2025-38528?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2025-38528 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?: Yes. CVE-2025-38528 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-26113.
When was CVE-2025-38528 published?: CVE-2025-38528 was published on 2025-08-16 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:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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