# CVE-2025-38683: hv_netvsc: Fix panic during namespace deletion with VF > A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's hv_netvsc driver causes a system panic during network namespace deletion with a VF. - **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:** 4 Sep 2025 - **Updated:** 23 May 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-73830, BELL-CVE-2025-38683, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38683, GHSA-3wcf-2vw2-33qp, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38683, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38683, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38683, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38683, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38683 ## What is CVE-2025-38683? CVE-2025-38683 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Sep 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: hv_netvsc: Fix panic during namespace deletion with VF The existing code move the VF NIC to new namespace when NETDEV_REGISTER is received on netvsc NIC. During deletion of the namespace, default_device_exit_batch() >> default_device_exit_net() is called. When netvsc NIC is moved back and registered to the default namespace, it automatically brings VF NIC back to the default namespace. This will cause the default_device_exit_net() >> for_each_netdev_safe loop unable to detect the list end, and hit NULL ptr: [ 231.449420] mana 7870:00:00.0 enP30832s1: Moved VF to namespace with: eth0 [ 231.449656] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000010 [ 231.450246] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 231.450579] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 231.450916] PGD 17b8a8067 P4D 0 [ 231.451163] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 231.451450] CPU: 82 UID: 0 PID: 1394 Comm: kworker/u768:1 Not tainted 6.16.0-rc4+ #3 VOLUNTARY [ 231.452042] Hardware name: Microsoft Corporation Virtual Machine/Virtual Machine, BIOS Hyper-V UEFI Release v4.1 11/21/2024 [ 231.452692] Workqueue: netns cleanup_net [ 231.452947] RIP: 0010:default_device_exit_batch+0x16c/0x3f0 [ 231.453326] Code: c0 0c f5 b3 e8 d5 db fe ff 48 85 c0 74 15 48 c7 c2 f8 fd ca b2 be 10 00 00 00 48 8d 7d c0 e8 7b 77 25 00 49 8b 86 28 01 00 00 <48> 8b 50 10 4c 8b 2a 4c 8d 62 f0 49 83 ed 10 4c 39 e0 0f 84 d6 00 [ 231.454294] RSP: 0018:ff75fc7c9bf9fd00 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 231.454610] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000002 RCX: 61c8864680b583eb [ 231.455094] RDX: ff1fa9f71462d800 RSI: ff75fc7c9bf9fd38 RDI: 0000000030766564 [ 231.455686] RBP: ff75fc7c9bf9fd78 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 231.456126] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000004 R12: ff1fa9f70088e340 [ 231.456621] R13: ff1fa9f70088e340 R14: ffffffffb3f50c20 R15: ff1fa9f7103e6340 [ 231.457161] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ff1faa6783a08000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 231.457707] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 231.458031] CR2: 0000000000000010 CR3: 0000000179ab2006 CR4: 0000000000b73ef0 [ 231.458434] Call Trace: [ 231.458600] [ 231.458777] ops_undo_list+0x100/0x220 [ 231.459015] cleanup_net+0x1b8/0x300 [ 231.459285] process_one_work+0x184/0x340 To fix it, move the ns change to a workqueue, and take rtnl_lock to avoid changing the netdev list when default_device_exit_net() is using it. Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38683? It affects 2 products. Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2025-38683? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2025-38683 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38683 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-2025-38683 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2025-38683 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 4 Sep 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-2025-38683 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-2025-38683/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38683/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38683 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38683 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38683 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38683/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.