CVE-2025-38171
📋 TL;DR
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the Linux kernel's max77705 power supply driver could cause kernel panics or system crashes when device probe fails. This affects Linux systems using the max77705 power management chip. The vulnerability occurs during error handling when creating workqueues.
💻 Affected Systems
- Linux kernel with max77705 power supply driver
📦 What is this software?
Linux Kernel by Linux
The Linux Kernel is the core component of the Linux operating system, serving as the critical interface between computer hardware and software processes. As the heart of millions of servers, cloud infrastructure, embedded systems, Android devices, and IoT deployments worldwide, the Linux Kernel mana...
Learn more about Linux Kernel →⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Kernel panic leading to system crash and denial of service, potentially requiring physical reboot.
Likely Case
System instability or crash when the max77705 driver fails to initialize properly during boot or hotplug events.
If Mitigated
Minor system instability that may cause temporary service interruption but no persistent damage.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires triggering the specific error condition during device probe, which typically requires physical access or hardware manipulation.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Kernel commits 11741b8e382d34b13277497ab91123d8b0b5c2db and 7f16be2b2927fdcfe40b596b7411c46d23a82034
Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/11741b8e382d34b13277497ab91123d8b0b5c2db
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update Linux kernel to version containing the fix commits. 2. Reboot system to load patched kernel.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable max77705 driver
linuxPrevent loading of the vulnerable driver module
echo 'blacklist max77705' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Avoid using systems with max77705 power management hardware
- Implement monitoring for kernel panic events and system crashes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if max77705 driver is loaded: lsmod | grep max77705Check Version:
uname -rVerify Fix Applied:
Check kernel version includes fix commits or verify driver loads without errors in dmesg📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Kernel panic messages in /var/log/kern.log or dmesg
- System crash/reboot events
Network Indicators:
- None - local vulnerability only
SIEM Query:
source="kernel" AND ("panic" OR "Oops" OR "NULL pointer dereference")