Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-37844

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 5.6.7 – 5.10.237

Published
09 May 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0024 15th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-37844 is a medium-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 15th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: avoid NULL pointer dereference in dbg call cifs_server_dbg() implies server to be non-NULL so move call under condition to avoid NULL pointer dereference. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org)…

more

with SVACE.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-38020Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38364Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38304Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38683Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-26744Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-37958Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38319Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38634Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38569Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-52686Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
5.6.7 — 5.10.237 · 5.11 — 5.15.181 · 5.16 — 6.1.135
debian
debian linux
11.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
  • SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) directly detects NULL-pointer dereference bugs such as the unguarded cifs_server_dbg() call before the code reaches production kernels.

prevent

Requiring secure development standards and tools (e.g., sound static analyzers) would have prevented the missing NULL check that triggers CWE-476 in the CIFS debug path.

prevent

Memory-protection mechanisms can block exploitation or limit the impact of a NULL dereference that reaches runtime in the CIFS module.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing can detect NULL dereference defects before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.

References