CVE-2025-38591

MEDIUMNVD 5.55.5
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 5.5 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2025-08-19. NVD baseline CVSS 5.5; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
5.5EG
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0%CVSS: 5.5Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields

The following BPF program, simplified from a syzkaller repro, causes a kernel warning:

r0 = *(u8 *)(r1 + 169); exit;

With pointer field sk being at offset 168 in __sk_buff. This access is detected as a narrower read in bpf_skb_is_valid_access because it doesn't match offsetof(struct __sk_buff, sk). It is therefore allowed and later proceeds to bpf_convert_ctx_access. Note that for the "is_narrower_load" case in the convert_ctx_accesses(), the insn->off is aligned, so the cnt may not be 0 because it matches the offsetof(struct __sk_buff, sk) in the bpf_convert_ctx_access. However, the target_size stays 0 and the verifier errors with a kernel warning:

verifier bug: error during ctx access conversion(1)

This patch fixes that to return a proper "invalid bpf_context access off=X size=Y" error on the load instruction.

The same issue affects multiple other fields in context structures that allow narrow access. Some other non-affected fields (for sk_msg, sk_lookup, and sockopt) were also changed to use bpf_ctx_range_ptr for consistency.

Note this syzkaller crash was reported in the "Closes" link below, which used to be about a different bug, fixed in commit fce7bd8e385a ("bpf/verifier: Handle BPF_LOAD_ACQ instructions in insn_def_regno()"). Because syzbot somehow confused the two bugs, the new crash and repro didn't get reported to the mailing list.

CVSS v3
5.5
EG Score
5.5(medium)
EG Risk
25(Track)
EG Risk 25/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity55% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
0%
EPSS %ILE
9%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 19, 2025

Last Modified

July 14, 2026

Advisory Details (7)

Auto-updated Jul 16, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/feae34c992eb7191862fb1594c704fbbf650fef8
generic

bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e09299225d5ba3916c91ef70565f7d2187e4cca0
generic

bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7847c4140e06f6e87229faae22cc38525334c156
generic

bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33660d44e789edb4f303210c813fc56d56377a90
generic

bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/202900ceeef67458c964c2af6e1427c8e533ea7c
generic

bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/058a0da4f6d916a79b693384111bb80a90d73763

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2025-38591(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Patch Availability(20)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulinux-tools-nvidia-tegra-rt-5.15 (5.15.0.1057.57~20.04.1) @ focal2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-virtual-hwe-20.04-edge (5.15.0.176.161) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-kvm-5.15 (5.15.0.1097.93) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-gcp-fips-5.15 (5.15.0.1105.95) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-nvidia-tegra-rt-5.15 (5.15.0.1057.57) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-realtime-5.15 (5.15.0.1104.108) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-virtual-hwe-20.04-edge (5.15.0.176.186~20.04.1) @ focal2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-azure-fips-5.15 (5.15.0.1110.95) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-raspi-nolpae (5.15.0.1099.97) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-xilinx-zynqmp-tools-5.15.0-1070 (5.15.0-1070.74) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-azure-edge (5.15.0.1110.119~20.04.1) @ focal2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-ibm-edge (5.15.0.1099.102~20.04.1) @ focal2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-virtual-6.8 (6.8.0-117.117) @ noble2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-nvidia-lowlatency-64k-6.8 (6.8.0-1054.57.1) @ noble2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-fips-6.8 (6.8.0-116.116+fips1) @ noble2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-gcp-edge (5.15.0.1106.115~20.04.1) @ focal2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-nvidia-tegra-rt-6.8 (6.8.0-1024.24) @ noble2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-nvidia-hwe-22.04-edge (6.8.0-1054.57~22.04.1) @ jammy2026-05-30ubuntu
ubuntulinux-tools-azure-lts-24.04 (6.8.0-1056.62) @ noble2026-05-30ubuntu
linuxKernel @ 5.10.249osv

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

All Vendor Advisories

(19)

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 40× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 108 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-08-07 16:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-04 15:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-04 10:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-03 10:35 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-08-02 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-01 04:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-30 16:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-30 01:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-28 15:35 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-26 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-25 14:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-25 14:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-24 14:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-23 22:11 UTCOSV refresh
  16. 2026-07-23 02:54 UTCEG score recompute
  17. 2026-07-22 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-22 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-21 15:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-20 17:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-19 14:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-19 14:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-19 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-19 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-18 10:04 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-07-18 10:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-16 17:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-15 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-15 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-15 01:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-15 01:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-14 13:19 UTCNVD updateCVSS v3 → 5.5 · severity → MEDIUM
  8. 2026-07-13 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-13 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-13 06:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-12 05:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-11 08:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-11 08:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-09 19:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-09 19:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-07 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-07-06 16:51 UTCOSV refresh
  18. 2026-07-06 16:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-06 16:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-06 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-05 02:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-04 06:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-01 15:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-01 15:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-30 23:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-30 23:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-29 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-29 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-28 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-28 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-28 04:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-28 04:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-27 03:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-27 03:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-06-25 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-06-25 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-06-24 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-24 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-06-23 21:32 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-06-23 21:32 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-06-22 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-06-22 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-06-21 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-06-21 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-06-21 01:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-06-21 01:59 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-06-19 19:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-06-19 19:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-06-18 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-06-18 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-06-18 05:05 UTCOSV refresh
  52. 2026-06-17 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-06-16 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-06-16 17:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-06-14 23:18 UTCMITRE cvelistV5
  56. 2026-06-14 23:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-06-13 23:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  58. 2026-06-12 23:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-06-11 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-06-10 22:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-06-10 13:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-06-08 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-06-08 14:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-06-07 15:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-06-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-06-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-06-05 22:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-06-05 22:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  69. 2026-06-05 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  70. 2026-06-05 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  71. 2026-06-04 13:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-06-04 13:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-06-02 20:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-06-01 13:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  75. 2026-06-01 13:51 UTCEPSS rescore

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2025-38591?
CVE-2025-38591 is a medium vulnerability published on August 19, 2025. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject narrower access to pointer ctx fields The following BPF program, simplified from a syzkaller repro, causes a kernel warning: r0 = (u8 )(r1 + 169); exit; With pointer field sk being at offset 168 in sk_buff. This access…
When was CVE-2025-38591 disclosed?
CVE-2025-38591 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 19, 2025, with the most recent update on July 14, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2025-38591 actively exploited?
CVE-2025-38591 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 90.8% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-38591?
CVE-2025-38591 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.5 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2025-38591?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2025-38591, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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