# CVE-2025-38706: ASoC: core: Check for rtd == NULL in snd_soc_remove_pcm_runtime()

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's ASoC core allows local attackers to cause a system crash during module removal.

- **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:** 12 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-66896, AZL-75161, BELL-CVE-2025-38706, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38706, GHSA-9c77-w28p-48g4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-38706, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38706, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38706, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38706, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38706

## What is CVE-2025-38706?

CVE-2025-38706 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:

ASoC: core: Check for rtd == NULL in snd_soc_remove_pcm_runtime()

snd_soc_remove_pcm_runtime() might be called with rtd == NULL which will
leads to null pointer dereference.
This was reproduced with topology loading and marking a link as ignore
due to missing hardware component on the system.
On module removal the soc_tplg_remove_link() would call
snd_soc_remove_pcm_runtime() with rtd == NULL since the link was ignored,
no runtime was created.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38706?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-38706?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-38706 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38706 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-38706 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-38706 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-2025-38706 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-2025-38706/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38706/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38706
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38706
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38706

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-38706/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.