---
id: CVE-2025-37938
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  tracing: Verify event formats that have "%*p.."

  The trace event verifier checks the formats of trace events to make sure
  that they do not point at memory that is not i…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  tracing: Verify event formats that have "%*p.."

  The trace event verifier checks the formats of trace events to make sure
  that they do not point at memory that is not i…
severity: high
cvss: 7.1
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-476
vendor: linux
product: linux_kernel
affected:
  - 'linux_kernel >= 5.13, < 6.1.136'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.89'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.26'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.13.11'
  - 'linux_kernel >= 6.14, < 6.14.2'
  - debian_linux = 11.0
patched:
  - linux_kernel 6.14.2
published: '2025-05-20'
updated: '2026-10-15'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-15T22:18:22.097'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-37938'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03127354027508d076073b020d3070990fd6a958'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04b80d45ecfaf780981d6582899e3ab205e4aa08'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d11fac941d83509be4e6a21038281d6d96da50c'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6854c87ac823181c810f8c07489ba543260c0023'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c7204fd1758c0caf1938e8a59809a1fdf28a8114'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea8d7647f9ddf1f81e2027ed305299797299aa03'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00206
epssPercentile: 0.10591
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-10-15T21:46:17.779135Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-10-15T22:48:25.485Z'
---

## Overview

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

tracing: Verify event formats that have "%*p.."

The trace event verifier checks the formats of trace events to make sure
that they do not point at memory that is not in the trace event itself or
in data that will never be freed. If an event references data that was
allocated when the event triggered and that same data is freed before the
event is read, then the kernel can crash by reading freed memory.

The verifier runs at boot up (or module load) and scans the print formats
of the events and checks their arguments to make sure that dereferenced
pointers are safe. If the format uses "%*p.." the verifier will ignore it,
and that could be dangerous. Cover this case as well.

Also add to the sample code a use case of "%*pbl".

## Affected

- `linux_kernel >= 5.13, < 6.1.136`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.89`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.26`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.13.11`
- `linux_kernel >= 6.14, < 6.14.2`
- `debian_linux = 11.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `linux_kernel 6.14.2`