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CVE-2025-38214 Not scored

fbdev: Fix fb_set_var to prevent null-ptr-deref in fb_videomode_to_var

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fbdev: Fix fb_set_var to prevent null-ptr-deref in fb_videomode_to_var If fb_add_videomode() in fb_set_var() fails to allocate memory for fb_videomode, later it may lead to a null-ptr dereference in fb_videomode_to_var(), as the fb_info is registered while not having the mode in modelist that is expected to be there, i.e. the one that is described in fb_info->var. ================================================================ general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000001: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f] CPU: 1 PID: 30371 Comm: syz-executor.1 Not tainted 5.10.226-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.12.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:fb_videomode_to_var+0x24/0x610 drivers/video/fbdev/core/modedb.c:901 Call Trace: display_to_var+0x3a/0x7c0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:929 fbcon_resize+0x3e2/0x8f0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:2071 resize_screen drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:1176 [inline] vc_do_resize+0x53a/0x1170 drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:1263 fbcon_modechanged+0x3ac/0x6e0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:2720 fbcon_update_vcs+0x43/0x60 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:2776 do_fb_ioctl+0x6d2/0x740 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1128 fb_ioctl+0xe7/0x150 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1203 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:48 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:753 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:739 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x19a/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:739 do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x67/0xd1 ================================================================ The reason is that fb_info->var is being modified in fb_set_var(), and then fb_videomode_to_var() is called. If it fails to add the mode to fb_info->modelist, fb_set_var() returns error, but does not restore the old value of fb_info->var. Restore fb_info->var on failure the same way it is done earlier in the function. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

Exploit probability 0.2%
Published July 4, 2025
Required by Not available
Last source change July 15, 2026

02 / AFFECTED SOFTWARE

Affected packages

Linux Kernel
Unknown Unknown

1856 explicit affected versions

03 / CONNECTIONS

Connected vulnerabilities

related OPENSUSE-SU-2025:20081-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02853-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02923-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02969-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02996-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:02997-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:03011-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:03023-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:03204-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20577-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20586-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20601-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:20602-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:21074-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
related SUSE-SU-2025:21179-1

04 / EVIDENCE

Source records

Open Source Vulnerabilities CVE-2025-38214

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fbdev: Fix fb_set_var to prevent null-ptr-deref in fb_videomode_to_var If fb_add_videomode() in fb_set_var() fails to allocate memory for fb_videomode, later it may lead to a null-ptr dereference in fb_videomode_to_var(), as the fb_info is registered while not having the mode in modelist that is expected to be there, i.e. the one that is described in fb_info->var. ================================================================ general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000001: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000008-0x000000000000000f] CPU: 1 PID: 30371 Comm: syz-executor.1 Not tainted 5.10.226-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.12.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:fb_videomode_to_var+0x24/0x610 drivers/video/fbdev/core/modedb.c:901 Call Trace: display_to_var+0x3a/0x7c0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:929 fbcon_resize+0x3e2/0x8f0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:2071 resize_screen drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:1176 [inline] vc_do_resize+0x53a/0x1170 drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:1263 fbcon_modechanged+0x3ac/0x6e0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:2720 fbcon_update_vcs+0x43/0x60 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:2776 do_fb_ioctl+0x6d2/0x740 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1128 fb_ioctl+0xe7/0x150 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1203 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:48 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:753 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:739 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x19a/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:739 do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x67/0xd1 ================================================================ The reason is that fb_info->var is being modified in fb_set_var(), and then fb_videomode_to_var() is called. If it fails to add the mode to fb_info->modelist, fb_set_var() returns error, but does not restore the old value of fb_info->var. Restore fb_info->var on failure the same way it is done earlier in the function. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

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05 / REFERENCES

Further evidence