Out-of-bounds Read in Linux

CVE-2025-38736

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: usb: asix_devices: Fix PHY address mask in MDIO bus initialization Syzbot reported shift-out-of-bounds exception on MDIO bus initialization. The PHY address should be masked to 5 bits (0-31). Without this mask, invalid PHY addresses could be used, potentially causing issues with MDIO bus operations. Fix this by masking the PHY address with 0x1f (31 decimal) to ensure it stays within the valid range.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

EPSS: 0.002 (4.8th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.1 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H.

Affected products

  • Linux — versions a754ab53993b1585132e871c5d811167ad3c52ff, ccef5ee4adf56472aa26bdd1f821a6d0cd06089a, ad1f8313aeec0115f9978bd2d002ef4a8d96c773
  • Linux Linux_kernel — versions 6.12.43, 6.17
  • Debian Debian_linux — versions 11.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38736?
CVE-2025-38736 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Out-of-bounds Read. CVSS score: 7.1/10. Published 2025-09-05.
How severe is CVE-2025-38736?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.1 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-38736 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.