CVE-2025-38220: Linux kernel · NULL Pointer Dereference
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.
Data as of 13 Nov 2026, 19:59 UTC
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Jul 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 13 Nov 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
A fix has been implemented in the Linux kernel to update ext4_dirty_journalled_data() to mark folios dirty only for regular files. Users should apply the official kernel updates that include this fix. No additional mitigation is required beyond applying the patch.
Description
CVE-2025-38220 is a medium severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel's ext4 filesystem. It involves a NULL pointer dereference crash triggered during processing of symlink inodes from the orphan list. The flaw occurs because the ext4_dirty_journalled_data() function marks folios dirty for all files, but symlink inodes lack the necessary a_ops vector, leading to a crash. The fix updates the function to only mark folios dirty for regular files, preventing the crash.
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38220 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/be5f3061a6f904e3674257879e71881ceee5b673 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf6a4c4ac7b6e3214f25df594c9689a62f1bb456 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7af6eee8cd60f55aa8c5fe2b91f11ec0c9a0f27 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/e26268ff1dcae5662c1b96c35f18cfa6ab73d9de (opens in a new tab)