CVE-2025-38266
📋 TL;DR
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the Linux kernel's MediaTek pinctrl subsystem causes kernel crashes on v1 platform devices. This affects Linux systems using MediaTek chipsets with specific pinctrl drivers, leading to denial of service during boot or runtime.
💻 Affected Systems
- Linux kernel with MediaTek pinctrl drivers
📦 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
Complete system crash and denial of service, requiring physical reboot of affected devices.
Likely Case
Kernel panic during boot on affected MediaTek v1 platform devices, preventing system startup.
If Mitigated
No impact if patched or using unaffected hardware/drivers.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires ability to trigger the vulnerable code path, typically during device initialization or driver loading.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Linux kernel stable releases containing fixes 1c9977b263475373b31bbf86af94a5c9ae2be42c and 9ebe21ede792cef851847648962c363cac67d17f
Vendor Advisory: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c9977b263475373b31bbf86af94a5c9ae2be42c
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update to latest stable Linux kernel version containing the fixes. 2. For embedded systems, rebuild kernel with patched sources. 3. Reboot system after kernel update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable affected pinctrl driver
linuxPrevent loading of vulnerable MediaTek pinctrl driver module
echo 'blacklist pinctrl-mtk' >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
update-initramfs -u
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Avoid using affected MediaTek v1 platform hardware
- Implement monitoring for kernel panic/crash events on affected systems
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check kernel version and if using MediaTek pinctrl drivers: 'uname -r' and 'lsmod | grep mtk'Check Version:
uname -rVerify Fix Applied:
Verify kernel version is patched and system boots without crashes on affected hardware📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Kernel panic messages
- NULL pointer dereference in kernel logs
- Early boot crashes
Network Indicators:
- Device unreachable after boot attempts
SIEM Query:
source="kernel" AND ("NULL pointer dereference" OR "kernel panic" OR "Unable to handle kernel")