# CVE-2025-38130: drm/connector: only call HDMI audio helper plugged cb if non-null

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's HDMI audio helper causes a system crash during driver removal, requiring a kernel patch.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38130, GHSA-pqfp-6qg3-j74h, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38130

## What is CVE-2025-38130?

CVE-2025-38130 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Jul 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

drm/connector: only call HDMI audio helper plugged cb if non-null

On driver remove, sound/soc/codecs/hdmi-codec.c calls the plugged_cb
with NULL as the callback function and codec_dev, as seen in its
hdmi_remove function.

The HDMI audio helper then happily tries calling said null function
pointer, and produces an Oops as a result.

Fix this by only executing the callback if fn is non-null. This means
the .plugged_cb and .plugged_cb_dev members still get appropriately
cleared.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38130?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38130?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38130 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38130 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-38130 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38130 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Jul 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38130 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38130/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38130/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38130
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38130
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38130

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38130/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.