VDB-322565 · CVE-2025-38702 · Nessus 261571

Linux Kernel up to 6.16.1 fbdev do_register_framebuffer registered_fb[] buffer overflow

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
7.7	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.148/6.6.102/6.12.42/6.15.10/6.16.1. It has been classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function do_register_framebuffer of the component fbdev. The manipulation of the argument registered_fb[] leads to buffer overflow. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2025-38702. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.148/6.6.102/6.12.42/6.15.10/6.16.1 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function do_register_framebuffer of the component fbdev. The manipulation of the argument registered_fb[] with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fbdev: fix potential buffer overflow in do_register_framebuffer() The current implementation may lead to buffer overflow when: 1. Unregistration creates NULL gaps in registered_fb[] 2. All array slots become occupied despite num_registered_fb < FB_MAX 3. The registration loop exceeds array bounds Add boundary check to prevent registered_fb[FB_MAX] access.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-38702 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/10/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 261571 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-38702), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.149, 6.6.103, 6.12.43, 6.15.11, 6.16.2 or 6.17-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 5c3f5a25c62230b7965804ce7a2e9305c3ca3961/cbe740de32bb0fb7a5213731ff5f26ea6718fca3/806f85bdd3a60187c21437fc51baace11f659f35/2828a433c7d7a05b6f27c8148502095101dd0b09/248b2aab9b2af5ecf89d9d7955a2ff20c4b4a399/523b84dc7ccea9c4d79126d6ed1cf9033cf83b05 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (261571) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1976). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

Debian Linux
Amazon Linux 2
Open Source Linux Kernel
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Ubuntu Linux
SUSE Linux
Oracle Linux
SUSE openSUSE
RESF Rocky Linux
Microsoft Azure
Dell Secure Connect Gateway
IBM QRadar SIEM
IBM Security Verify Access
Dell NetWorker

Productinfo

Type

Operating System

Vendor

Linux

Name

Kernel

Version

License

open-source

Website

Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.7

VulDB Base Score: 8.0
VulDB Temp Score: 7.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
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💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Buffer overflow
CWE: CWE-120 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒