CVE-2025-38299
NoneCVSS
—
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Jul 10, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A configuration mismatch in certain audio hardware setups can crash the Linux kernel on boot for specific chips if the hardware description is missing some details.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Local User
- Complexity
- Low
- Impact
- Denial Of Service
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Memory Corruption
- Remediation
- Upgrade
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Null pointer dereference in __pi_strcmp during mt8195_mt6359_soc_card_probe when ETDM1_OUT_BE/ETDM2_IN_BE use COMP_EMPTY() resulting in null codec dai_name on device trees lacking codec assignments for those links.
Why it matters to the business
Kernel panic during boot or deferred probe on MediaTek MT8195 platforms causes device unavailability and operational disruption in embedded Linux systems using the affected audio drivers.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker supplies or influences an incomplete device tree omitting codec assignment for ETDM links, triggering deferred_probe_work_func and mtk_soundcard_common_probe to call strcmp on a null pointer and crash the kernel.
How to fix it
Update linux-lts to 6.6.58-r0 or 6.12.41-r0, or apply commit 87dbfe2b392df9621f6e522e5fa6fb8849ca92ab in the stable kernel tree; ensure device trees assign codecs or use COMP_DUMMY for the links.
How to confirm the fix worked
Boot with updated kernel and confirm absence of Oops involving __pi_strcmp and mt8195_mt6359_soc_card_probe; verify device tree links no longer use COMP_EMPTY for ETDM1/2.
Typical attack path
- Provide device tree without codec dai_name for ETDM1_OUT_BE or ETDM2_IN_BE links
- Load or probe the mt8195 sound card driver
- Trigger deferred probe workqueue execution
- Execute strcmp on null pointer in mt8195_mt6359_soc_card_probe
How to detect it
Search kernel logs and dmesg for Oops traces containing __pi_strcmp, mt8195_mt6359_soc_card_probe, mtk_soundcard_common_probe, and deferred_probe_work_func on PREEMPT SMP systems.
- Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000
- __pi_strcmp+0x24/0x140
- mt8195_mt6359_soc_card_probe+0x224/0x7b0
- deferred_probe_work_func+0xa4/0x100
- ESR = 0x0000000096000004
What your security team should do
- Apply the listed kernel fixes on all affected MediaTek MT8195 systems
- Audit device trees for proper codec assignments on ETDM links
- Monitor kernel logs for related NULL dereference panics
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ASoC: mediatek: mt8195: Set ETDM1/2 IN/OUT to COMP_DUMMY() ETDM2_IN_BE and ETDM1_OUT_BE are defined as COMP_EMPTY(), in the case the codec dai_name will be null. Avoid a crash if the device tree is not assigning a codec to these links. [ 1.179936] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 [ 1.181065] Mem abort info: [ 1.181420] ESR = 0x0000000096000004 [ 1.181892] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 1.182576] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 1.182964] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 1.183367] FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault [ 1.183983] Data abort info: [ 1.184406] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000 [ 1.185097] CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 [ 1.185766] GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 [ 1.186439] [0000000000000000] user address but active_mm is swapper [ 1.187239] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] PREEMPT SMP [ 1.188029] Modules linked in: [ 1.188420] CPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 70 Comm: kworker/u32:1 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc4-next-20250226+ #85 [ 1.189515] Hardware name: Radxa NIO 12L (DT) [ 1.190065] Workqueue: events_unbound deferred_probe_work_func [ 1.190808] pstate: 40400009 (nZcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 1.191683] pc : __pi_strcmp+0x24/0x140 [ 1.192170] lr : mt8195_mt6359_soc_card_probe+0x224/0x7b0 [ 1.192854] sp : ffff800083473970 [ 1.193271] x29: ffff800083473a10 x28: 0000000000001008 x27: 0000000000000002 [ 1.194168] x26: ffff800082408960 x25: ffff800082417db0 x24: ffff800082417d88 [ 1.195065] x23: 000000000000001e x22: ffff800082dbf480 x21: ffff800082dc07b8 [ 1.195961] x20: 0000000000000000 x19: 0000000000000013 x18: 00000000ffffffff [ 1.196858] x17: 000000040044ffff x16: 005000f2b5503510 x15: 0000000000000006 [ 1.197755] x14: ffff800082407af0 x13: 6e6f69737265766e x12: 692d6b636f6c6374 [ 1.198651] x11: 0000000000000002 x10: ffff80008240b920 x9 : 0000000000000018 [ 1.199547] x8 : 0101010101010101 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 [ 1.200443] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 8080808080000000 x3 : 303933383978616d [ 1.201339] x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : ffff80008240b920 x0 : 0000000000000000 [ 1.202236] Call trace: [ 1.202545] __pi_strcmp+0x24/0x140 (P) [ 1.203029] mtk_soundcard_common_probe+0x3bc/0x5b8 [ 1.203644] platform_probe+0x70/0xe8 [ 1.204106] really_probe+0xc8/0x3a0 [ 1.204556] __driver_probe_device+0x84/0x160 [ 1.205104] driver_probe_device+0x44/0x130 [ 1.205630] __device_attach_driver+0xc4/0x170 [ 1.206189] bus_for_each_drv+0x8c/0xf8 [ 1.206672] __device_attach+0xa8/0x1c8 [ 1.207155] device_initial_probe+0x1c/0x30 [ 1.207681] bus_probe_device+0xb0/0xc0 [ 1.208165] deferred_probe_work_func+0xa4/0x100 [ 1.208747] process_one_work+0x158/0x3e0 [ 1.209254] worker_thread+0x2c4/0x3e8 [ 1.209727] kthread+0x134/0x1f0 [ 1.210136] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 [ 1.210589] Code: 54000401 b50002c6 d503201f f86a6803 (f8408402) [ 1.211355] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | 6.12.35-1 |
| Linux | Kernel | 6.8.0 | 6.12.34 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_3 | 0 | 1-150700.1.5.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.13.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.13.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.7.13.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
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