diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
index f0e5408499b6..1ab2db6c127b 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
@@ -322,6 +322,9 @@ static int regex_match_full(char *str, struct regex *r, int len)
 
 static int regex_match_front(char *str, struct regex *r, int len)
 {
+	if (len < r->len)
+		return 0;
+
 	if (strncmp(str, r->pattern, r->len) == 0)
 		return 1;
 	return 0;