High 7.1Published Aug 16, 2025

CVE-2025-38528bpf: Reject %p% format string in bprintf-like helpers

Updated under an hour ago (Oct 27, 2026, 3:00 AM ET)

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Exploited in the last 30 days

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject %p% format string in bprintf-like helpers static const char fmt[] = "%p%"; bpf_trace_printk(fmt, sizeof(fmt)); The above BPF program isn't rejected and causes a kernel warning at runtime: Please remove unsupported %\x00 in format string WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7244 at lib/vsprintf.c:2680 format_decode+0x49c/0x5d0 This happens because bpf_bprintf_prepare skips over the second %, detected as punctuation, while processing %p. This patch fixes it by not skipping over punctuation. %\x00 is then processed in the next iteration and rejected.

CVSS: 7.1 HIGH (v3.1, CNA)CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Weakness (CWE): Not given
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: Linux
NVD analysis: Modified
Record last updated: Oct 15, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 15, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

Linux Linux linux:linux (from the name)	from 48cac3f4a96ddf08df8e53809ed066de0dc93915 before 97303e541e12f1fea97834ec64b98991e8775f39; from 48cac3f4a96ddf08df8e53809ed066de0dc93915 before 61d5fa45ed13e42af14c7e959baba9908b8ee6d4; from 48cac3f4a96ddf08df8e53809ed066de0dc93915 before e7be679124bae8cf4fa6e40d7e1661baddfb3289; from 48cac3f4a96ddf08df8e53809ed066de0dc93915 before 6952aeace93f8c9ea01849efecac24dd3152c9c9; 48cac3f4a96ddf08df8e53809ed066de0dc93915 builds before 1c5f5fd47bbda17cb885fe6f03730702cd53d3f8; from 48cac3f4a96ddf08df8e53809ed066de0dc93915 before f8242745871f81a3ac37f9f51853d12854fd0b58	CNA record
linux linux_kernel linux:linux_kernel	from 5.13 before 5.15.190; from 5.16 before 6.1.147; from 6.2 before 6.6.100; from 6.7 before 6.12.40; from 6.13 before 6.15.8; 6.16; 6.16; 6.16; and 3 more ranges	NVD
debian debian_linux debian:debian_linux	11.0	NVD

References

References

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/97303e541e12f1fea97834ec64b98991e8775f39	patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61d5fa45ed13e42af14c7e959baba9908b8ee6d4	patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e7be679124bae8cf4fa6e40d7e1661baddfb3289	patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6952aeace93f8c9ea01849efecac24dd3152c9c9	patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c5f5fd47bbda17cb885fe6f03730702cd53d3f8	patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f8242745871f81a3ac37f9f51853d12854fd0b58	patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html	mailing-list, third-party-advisory

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.