CVE-2025-38243 btrfs: fix invalid inode pointer dereferences during log replay
A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's btrfs log replay can cause a system crash, requiring a kernel patch to prevent denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2025-38243?
CVE-2025-38243 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 9 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:
btrfs: fix invalid inode pointer dereferences during log replay
In a few places where we call read_one_inode(), if we get a NULL pointer we end up jumping into an error path, or fallthrough in case of __add_inode_ref(), where we then do something like this:
iput(&inode->vfs_inode);
which results in an invalid inode pointer that triggers an invalid memory access, resulting in a crash.
Fix this by making sure we don't do such dereferences.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38243?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38243?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-38243 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38243 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-38243, GHSA-3cjq-w2m7-3294, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38243.