Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-38198

Linux Kernel ≤ 6.1.142

Published
04 July 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0016 5th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-38198 is a high-severity Improper Validation of Array Index (CWE-129) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fbcon: Make sure modelist not set on unregistered console It looks like attempting to write to the "store_modes" sysfs node will run afoul of unregistered consoles: UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:122:28…

more

index -1 is out of range for type 'fb_info *[32]' ... fbcon_info_from_console+0x192/0x1a0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:122 fbcon_new_modelist+0xbf/0x2d0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:3048 fb_new_modelist+0x328/0x440 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:673 store_modes+0x1c9/0x3e0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbsysfs.c:113 dev_attr_store+0x55/0x80 drivers/base/core.c:2439 static struct fb_info *fbcon_registered_fb[FB_MAX]; ... static signed char con2fb_map[MAX_NR_CONSOLES]; ... static struct fb_info *fbcon_info_from_console(int console) ... return fbcon_registered_fb[con2fb_map[console]]; If con2fb_map contains a -1 things go wrong here. Instead, return NULL, as callers of fbcon_info_from_console() are trying to compare against existing "info" pointers, so error handling should kick in correctly.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2025-38697Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-26966Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-46821Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-52812Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38146Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-46859Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-37752Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-46871Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38239Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
≤ 6.1.142 · 6.2 — 6.6.95 · 6.7 — 6.12.35
debian
debian linux
11.0

Mitigating Controls

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 directly require input validation and bounds checking that prevent improper array indexing.

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.

finds

Security testing in development can detect out-of-bounds array access but does not prevent the weakness by itself.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevents improper array indexing.

prevents

Application security requirements include validation of untrusted input used for indexing or addressing memory structures.

prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive coding patterns that reduce index-related vulnerabilities.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly require bounds checking and validation of array indices derived from untrusted data.

References