# CVE-2025-38559: platform/x86/intel/pmt: fix a crashlog NULL pointer access

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash via NULL pointer dereference in the Intel PMT driver when reading crashlog sysfs entries.

- **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:** 19 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38559, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38559, GHSA-g3wv-hmmw-34hr, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-38559, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38559

## What is CVE-2025-38559?

CVE-2025-38559 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Aug 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:

platform/x86/intel/pmt: fix a crashlog NULL pointer access

Usage of the intel_pmt_read() for binary sysfs, requires a pcidev. The
current use of the endpoint value is only valid for telemetry endpoint
usage.

Without the ep, the crashlog usage causes the following NULL pointer
exception:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
RIP: 0010:intel_pmt_read+0x3b/0x70 [pmt_class]
Code:
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 ? sysfs_kf_bin_read+0xc0/0xe0
 kernfs_fop_read_iter+0xac/0x1a0
 vfs_read+0x26d/0x350
 ksys_read+0x6b/0xe0
 __x64_sys_read+0x1d/0x30
 x64_sys_call+0x1bc8/0x1d70
 do_syscall_64+0x6d/0x110

Augment struct intel_pmt_entry with a pointer to the pcidev to avoid
the NULL pointer exception.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38559?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38559?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38559 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38559 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-2025-38559 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38559 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 19 Aug 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-2025-38559 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-2025-38559/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38559/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38559
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38559
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38559

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38559/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.