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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-38481: Linux kernel · comedi: Fail COMEDI_INSNLIST ioctl if n_insns is too large

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium · fixed in 5.15.0-1097.104~20.04.1 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
5.5Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 7% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 5.15.0-1097.104~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1102.111~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1097.106~20.04.1 +63
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 28 Jul 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=questingOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1003.3 – 6.17.0-1017.17
10 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • <6.8.0-100.100
Fixed in
  • 6.8.0-100.100
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • <6.8.0-1046.49
Fixed in
  • 6.8.0-1046.49
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-aws-6.14pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • <6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1
Fixed in
  • 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • <6.8.0-1046.52
Fixed in
  • 6.8.0-1046.52
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-6.11pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threatsAffected
  • 6.11.0-1008.8~24.04.1 – 6.11.0-1018.18~24.04.1
7 affected builds
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: comedi: Fail COMEDI_INSNLIST ioctl if n_insns is too large The handling of the `COMEDI_INSNLIST` ioctl allocates a kernel buffer to hold the array of `struct comedi_insn`, getting the length from the `n_insns` member of the `struct comedi_insnlist` supplied by the user. The allocation will fail with a WARNING and a stack dump if it is too large. Avoid that by failing with an `-EINVAL` error if the supplied `n_insns` value is unreasonable. Define the limit on the `n_insns` value in the `MAX_INSNS` macro. Set this to the same value as `MAX_SAMPLES` (65536), which is the maximum allowed sum of the values of the member `n` in the array of `struct comedi_insn`, and sensible comedi instructions will have an `n` of at least 1.

References

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