CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2025-38682 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: core: Fix double-free of fwnode in i2c_unregister_device() Before commit df6d7277e552 ("i2c: core: Do not dereference fwnode in struct device"), i2c_unregister_device() only called fwnode_handle_put() on of_node-s in the form of calling of_node_put(client->dev.of_node). But after this commit the i2c_client's fwnode now unconditionally gets fwnode_handle_put() on it. When the i2c_client has no primary (ACPI / OF) fwnode but it does have a software fwnode, the software-node will be the primary node and fwnode_handle_put() will put() it. But for the software fwnode device_remove_software_node() will also put() it leading to a double free: [ 82.665598] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 82.665609] refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. [ 82.665808] WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 1502 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x11 ... [ 82.666830] RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xba/0x110 ... [ 82.666962] <TASK> [ 82.666971] i2c_unregister_device+0x60/0x90 Fix this by not calling fwnode_handle_put() when the primary fwnode is a software-node.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2025-09-04
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-415

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

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Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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