# CVE-2025-38416: NFC: nci: uart: Set tty->disc_data only in success path

> A race condition in the Linux kernel NFC UART driver allows potential denial of service if hardware sends data before initialization completes.

- **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:** 25 Jul 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38416, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38416, GHSA-9qw8-xx45-2wp7, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38416, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38416, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38416, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38416, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38416

## What is CVE-2025-38416?

CVE-2025-38416 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 25 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:

NFC: nci: uart: Set tty->disc_data only in success path

Setting tty->disc_data before opening the NCI device means we need to
clean it up on error paths.  This also opens some short window if device
starts sending data, even before NCIUARTSETDRIVER IOCTL succeeded
(broken hardware?).  Close the window by exposing tty->disc_data only on
the success path, when opening of the NCI device and try_module_get()
succeeds.

The code differs in error path in one aspect: tty->disc_data won't be
ever assigned thus NULL-ified.  This however should not be relevant
difference, because of "tty->disc_data=NULL" in nci_uart_tty_open().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38416?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38416?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38416 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38416 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-38416 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38416 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 25 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-2025-38416 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2025-38416/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38416/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38416
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38416
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38416

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38416/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.