# CVE-2025-38673: Revert "drm/gem-framebuffer: Use dma_buf from GEM object instance"

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel DRM subsystem allows local attackers to cause a system crash.

- **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:** 22 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-38673, GHSA-5qx5-jpr4-rw99, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38673, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38673, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38673

## What is CVE-2025-38673?

CVE-2025-38673 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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:

Revert "drm/gem-framebuffer: Use dma_buf from GEM object instance"

This reverts commit cce16fcd7446dcff7480cd9d2b6417075ed81065.

The dma_buf field in struct drm_gem_object is not stable over the
object instance's lifetime. The field becomes NULL when user space
releases the final GEM handle on the buffer object. This resulted
in a NULL-pointer deref.

Workarounds in commit 5307dce878d4 ("drm/gem: Acquire references on
GEM handles for framebuffers") and commit f6bfc9afc751 ("drm/framebuffer:
Acquire internal references on GEM handles") only solved the problem
partially. They especially don't work for buffer objects without a DRM
framebuffer associated.

Hence, this revert to going back to using .import_attach->dmabuf.

v3:
- cc stable

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38673?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38673?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38673 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38673 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-2025-38673 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38673 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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-2025-38673 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-2025-38673/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38673/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38673
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38673
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38673

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38673/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.