diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
index 1f951b3df60c..7d306b74230f 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events_filter.c
@@ -762,6 +762,9 @@ 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;