Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2025-38153 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 6th 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-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-19791
Vulnerability Data
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: usb: aqc111: fix error handling of usbnet read calls Syzkaller, courtesy of syzbot, identified an error (see report [1]) in aqc111 driver, caused by incomplete sanitation of usb read…
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calls' results. This problem is quite similar to the one fixed in commit 920a9fa27e78 ("net: asix: add proper error handling of usb read errors"). For instance, usbnet_read_cmd() may read fewer than 'size' bytes, even if the caller expected the full amount, and aqc111_read_cmd() will not check its result properly. As [1] shows, this may lead to MAC address in aqc111_bind() being only partly initialized, triggering KMSAN warnings. Fix the issue by verifying that the number of bytes read is as expected and not less. [1] Partial syzbot report: BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in is_valid_ether_addr include/linux/etherdevice.h:208 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in usbnet_probe+0x2e57/0x4390 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:1830 is_valid_ether_addr include/linux/etherdevice.h:208 [inline] usbnet_probe+0x2e57/0x4390 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:1830 usb_probe_interface+0xd01/0x1310 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:396 call_driver_probe drivers/base/dd.c:-1 [inline] really_probe+0x4d1/0xd90 drivers/base/dd.c:658 __driver_probe_device+0x268/0x380 drivers/base/dd.c:800 ... Uninit was stored to memory at: dev_addr_mod+0xb0/0x550 net/core/dev_addr_lists.c:582 __dev_addr_set include/linux/netdevice.h:4874 [inline] eth_hw_addr_set include/linux/etherdevice.h:325 [inline] aqc111_bind+0x35f/0x1150 drivers/net/usb/aqc111.c:717 usbnet_probe+0xbe6/0x4390 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:1772 usb_probe_interface+0xd01/0x1310 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:396 ... Uninit was stored to memory at: ether_addr_copy include/linux/etherdevice.h:305 [inline] aqc111_read_perm_mac drivers/net/usb/aqc111.c:663 [inline] aqc111_bind+0x794/0x1150 drivers/net/usb/aqc111.c:713 usbnet_probe+0xbe6/0x4390 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:1772 usb_probe_interface+0xd01/0x1310 drivers/usb/core/driver.c:396 call_driver_probe drivers/base/dd.c:-1 [inline] ... Local variable buf.i created at: aqc111_read_perm_mac drivers/net/usb/aqc111.c:656 [inline] aqc111_bind+0x221/0x1150 drivers/net/usb/aqc111.c:713 usbnet_probe+0xbe6/0x4390 drivers/net/usb/usbnet.c:1772
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.
Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.
Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.
Input validation rejects malformed indices or lengths that would otherwise cause reads outside buffer bounds.
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.
Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.
Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.
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.
Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.
Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.
Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.
Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.