Vulnerability · Published Jul 25, 2025 · Assigned by Linux
CVE-2025-38433riscv: fix runtime constant support for nommu kernels
Medium 5.5
In plain English
A medium-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 5% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: fix runtime constant support for nommu kernels the `__runtime_fixup_32` function does not handle the case where `val` is zero correctly (as might occur when patching a nommu kernel and referring to a physical address below the 4GiB boundary whose upper 32 bits are all zero) because nothing in the existing logic prevents the code from taking the `else` branch of both nop-checks and emitting two `nop` instructions. This leaves random garbage in the register that is supposed to receive the upper 32 bits of the pointer instead of zero that when combined with the value for the lower 32 bits yields an invalid pointer and causes a kernel panic when that pointer is eventually accessed. The author clearly considered the fact that if the `lui` is converted into a `nop` that the second instruction needs to be adjusted to become an `li` instead of an `addi`, hence introducing the `addi_insn_mask` variable, but didn't follow that logic through fully to the case where the `else` branch executes. To fix it just adjust the logic to ensure that the second `else` branch is not taken if the first instruction will be patched to a `nop`.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-allwinner-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iot-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-5.17 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.0 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.1 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38433 |