CVE-2025-38216 [High] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/vt-d: Restore context entry setup order for aliased devices Commit 2031c469f816 ("iommu/vt-d: Add support for static identity domain") changed the context entry setup during domain attachment from a set-and-check policy to a clear-and-reset approach. This inadvertently introduced a regression affecting PCI aliased devices behind PCIe-to-PCI bridges. Specifically, keyboard and touchpad stopped working on several Apple Macbooks with below messages: kernel: platform pxa2xx-spi.3: Adding to iommu group 20 kernel: input: Apple SPI Keyboard as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.3/pxa2xx-spi.3/spi_master/spi2/spi-APP000D:00/input/input0 kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3 kernel: DMAR: [DMA Read NO_PASID] Request device [00:1e.3] fault addr 0xffffa000 [fault reason 0x06] PTE Read access is not set kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3 kernel: DMAR: [DMA Read NO_PASID] Request device [00:1e.3] fault addr 0xffffa000 [fault reason 0x06] PTE Read access is not set kernel: applespi spi-APP000D:00: Error writing to device: 01 0e 00 00 kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3 kernel: DMAR: [DMA Read NO_PASID] Request device [00:1e.3] fault addr 0xffffa000 [fault reason 0x06] PTE Read access is not set kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3 kernel: applespi spi-APP000D:00: Error writing to device: 01 0e 00 00 Fix this by restoring the previous context setup order.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-04-30	0.02%	0.05%	+0.03%
2	2025-07-05	—	0.02%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-04-30

0.02%

0.05%

+0.03%

2025-07-05

—

0.02%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	5.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

5.9

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38216

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2025-38216 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-38216
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38216
`suse`	medium	CVE-2025-38216 severity moderate: SUSE including 382 source package names (amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20210304-hvm-ssd-x86_64, amazon/suse-sles-15-sp1-chost-byos-v20220127-hvm-ssd-x86_64, …), 887 product×package rows across 136 product lines (Container suse/sle-micro-rancher/5.2, Image SLES-Azure-3P, … (136 product lines)): Fixed 380, Known Not Affected 255, Known Affected 231, First Fixed 21.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38216/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2025-38216 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 152, not-affected 146, released 106, needs-triage 2.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38216

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38216

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.12, < 6.12.35	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.13, < 6.15.4	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::

References for CVE-2025-38216

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/320302baed05c6456164652541f23d2a96522c06	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d43c81b691813e16a2d08208ce8947aebdab83cd	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb5873b779dd5858123c19bbd6959566771e2e83	Patch

URL

CVE-2025-38216 | iommu/vt-d: Restore context entry setup order for aliased devices

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38216

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38216

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38216

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38216

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38216

References for CVE-2025-38216