# CVE-2025-38189: drm/v3d: Avoid NULL pointer dereference in `v3d_job_update_stats()`

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's v3d DRM driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 4 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38189, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38189, GHSA-6c4r-cxgh-ghm9, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38189, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38189, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38189, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38189, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38189

## What is CVE-2025-38189?

CVE-2025-38189 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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/v3d: Avoid NULL pointer dereference in `v3d_job_update_stats()`

The following kernel Oops was recently reported by Mesa CI:

[  800.139824] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000588
[  800.148619] Mem abort info:
[  800.151402]   ESR = 0x0000000096000005
[  800.155141]   EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
[  800.160444]   SET = 0, FnV = 0
[  800.163488]   EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
[  800.166619]   FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault
[  800.171487] Data abort info:
[  800.174357]   ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005, ISS2 = 0x00000000
[  800.179832]   CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0
[  800.184873]   GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0
[  800.190176] user pgtable: 4k pages, 39-bit VAs, pgdp=00000001014c2000
[  800.196607] [0000000000000588] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000, pud=0000000000000000
[  800.205305] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000005 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
[  800.211564] Modules linked in: vc4 snd_soc_hdmi_codec drm_display_helper v3d cec gpu_sched drm_dma_helper drm_shmem_helper drm_kms_helper drm drm_panel_orientation_quirks snd_soc_core snd_compress snd_pcm_dmaengine snd_pcm i2c_brcmstb snd_timer snd backlight
[  800.234448] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.12.25+rpt-rpi-v8 #1  Debian 1:6.12.25-1+rpt1
[  800.244182] Hardware name: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.4 (DT)
[  800.250005] pstate: 600000c5 (nZCv daIF -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
[  800.256959] pc : v3d_job_update_stats+0x60/0x130 [v3d]
[  800.262112] lr : v3d_job_update_stats+0x48/0x130 [v3d]
[  800.267251] sp : ffffffc080003e60
[  800.270555] x29: ffffffc080003e60 x28: ffffffd842784980 x27: 0224012000000000
[  800.277687] x26: ffffffd84277f630 x25: ffffff81012fd800 x24: 0000000000000020
[  800.284818] x23: ffffff8040238b08 x22: 0000000000000570 x21: 0000000000000158
[  800.291948] x20: 0000000000000000 x19: ffffff8040238000 x18: 0000000000000000
[  800.299078] x17: ffffffa8c1bd2000 x16: ffffffc080000000 x15: 0000000000000000
[  800.306208] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000
[  800.313338] x11: 0000000000000040 x10: 0000000000001a40 x9 : ffffffd83b39757c
[  800.320468] x8 : ffffffd842786420 x7 : 7fffffffffffffff x6 : 0000000000ef32b0
[  800.327598] x5 : 00ffffffffffffff x4 : 0000000000000015 x3 : ffffffd842784980
[  800.334728] x2 : 0000000000000004 x1 : 0000000000010002 x0 : 000000ba4c0ca382
[  800.341859] Call trace:
[  800.344294]  v3d_job_update_stats+0x60/0x130 [v3d]
[  800.349086]  v3d_irq+0x124/0x2e0 [v3d]
[  800.352835]  __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x58/0x218
[  800.357539]  handle_irq_event+0x54/0xb8
[  800.361369]  handle_fasteoi_irq+0xac/0x240
[  800.365458]  handle_irq_desc+0x48/0x68
[  800.369200]  generic_handle_domain_irq+0x24/0x38
[  800.373810]  gic_handle_irq+0x48/0xd8
[  800.377464]  call_on_irq_stack+0x24/0x58
[  800.381379]  do_interrupt_handler+0x88/0x98
[  800.385554]  el1_interrupt+0x34/0x68
[  800.389123]  el1h_64_irq_handler+0x18/0x28
[  800.393211]  el1h_64_irq+0x64/0x68
[  800.396603]  default_idle_call+0x3c/0x168
[  800.400606]  do_idle+0x1fc/0x230
[  800.403827]  cpu_startup_entry+0x40/0x50
[  800.407742]  rest_init+0xe4/0xf0
[  800.410962]  start_kernel+0x5e8/0x790
[  800.414616]  __primary_switched+0x80/0x90
[  800.418622] Code: 8b170277 8b160296 11000421 b9000861 (b9401ac1)
[  800.424707] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
[  800.457313] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception in interrupt ]---

This issue happens when the file descriptor is closed before the jobs
submitted by it are completed. When the job completes, we update the
global GPU stats and the per-fd GPU stats, which are exposed through
fdinfo. If the file descriptor was closed, then the struct `v3d_file_priv`
and its stats were already freed and we can't update the per-fd stats.

Therefore, if the file descriptor was already closed, don't u
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38189?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38189?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38189 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38189 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-2025-38189 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38189 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 4 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-2025-38189 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-2025-38189/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38189/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38189
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38189
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38189

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38189/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
