NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2025-22016

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dpll: fix xa_alloc_cyclic() error handling In case of returning 1 from xa_alloc_cyclic() (wrapping) ERR_PTR(1) will be returned, which will cause IS_ERR() to be false. Which can lead to dereference not allocated pointer (pin). Fix it by checking if err is lower than zero. This wasn't found in real usecase, only noticed. Credit to Pierre.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (8.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 8th percentile — 8.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-22016: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions 97f265ef7f5b526b33d6030b2a1fc69a2259bf4a, 6.8, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.14

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-22016?
CVE-2025-22016 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-04-08.
How severe is CVE-2025-22016?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.