In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: typec: tcpm: move tcpm_queue_vdm_unlocked to asynchronous work A state check was previously added to tcpm_queue_vdm_unlocked to prevent a deadlock where the DisplayPort Alt Mode driver would be executing work and attempting to grab the tcpm_lock while the TCPM was holding the lock and attempting to unregister the altmode, blocking on the altmode driver's cancel_work_sync call. Because the state check isn't protected, there is a small window where the Alt Mode driver could determine that the TCPM is in a ready state and attempt to grab the lock while the TCPM grabs the lock and changes the TCPM state to one that causes the deadlock. The callstack is provided below: [110121.667392][ C7] Call trace: [110121.667396][ C7] __switch_to+0x174/0x338 [110121.667406][ C7] __schedule+0x608/0x9f0 [110121.667414][ C7] schedule+0x7c/0xe8 [110121.667423][ C7] kernfs_drain+0xb0/0x114 [110121.667431][ C7] __kernfs_remove+0x16c/0x20c [110121.667436][ C7] kernfs_remove_by_name_ns+0x74/0xe8 [110121.667442][ C7] sysfs_remove_group+0x84/0xe8 [110121.667450][ C7] sysfs_remove_groups+0x34/0x58 [110121.667458][ C7] device_remove_groups+0x10/0x20 [110121.667464][ C7] device_release_driver_internal+0x164/0x2e4 [110121.667475][ C7] device_release_driver+0x18/0x28 [110121.667484][ C7] bus_remove_device+0xec/0x118 [110121.667491][ C7] device_del+0x1e8/0x4ac [110121.667498][ C7] device_unregister+0x18/0x38 [110121.667504][ C7] typec_unregister_altmode+0x30/0x44 [110121.667515][ C7] tcpm_reset_port+0xac/0x370 [110121.667523][ C7] tcpm_snk_detach+0x84/0xb8 [110121.667529][ C7] run_state_machine+0x4c0/0x1b68 [110121.667536][ C7] tcpm_state_machine_work+0x94/0xe4 [110121.667544][ C7] kthread_worker_fn+0x10c/0x244 [110121.667552][ C7] kthread+0x104/0x1d4 [110121.667557][ C7] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 [110121.667689][ C7] Workqueue: events dp_altmode_work [110121.667697][ C7] Call trace: [110121.667701][ C7] __switch_to+0x174/0x338 [110121.667710][ C7] __schedule+0x608/0x9f0 [110121.667717][ C7] schedule+0x7c/0xe8 [110121.667725][ C7] schedule_preempt_disabled+0x24/0x40 [110121.667733][ C7] __mutex_lock+0x408/0xdac [110121.667741][ C7] __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x14/0x24 [110121.667748][ C7] mutex_lock+0x40/0xec [110121.667757][ C7] tcpm_altmode_enter+0x78/0xb4 [110121.667764][ C7] typec_altmode_enter+0xdc/0x10c [110121.667769][ C7] dp_altmode_work+0x68/0x164 [110121.667775][ C7] process_one_work+0x1e4/0x43c [110121.667783][ C7] worker_thread+0x25c/0x430 [110121.667789][ C7] kthread+0x104/0x1d4 [110121.667794][ C7] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Change tcpm_queue_vdm_unlocked to queue for tcpm_queue_vdm_work, which can perform the state check while holding the TCPM lock while the Alt Mode lock is no longer held. This requires a new struct to hold the vdm data, altmode_vdm_event.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-38268 is rated Low Risk (22.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).
| # | Date | Old EPSS score | New EPSS score | Delta (New - Old) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-07-10 | — | 0.02% | — |
Full EPSS history (1 record total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 3.1 | MEDIUM |
|
1.8 | 3.6 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
debian
|
unimportant | CVE-2025-38268 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-2025-38268 |
redhat
|
low | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38268 |
suse
|
medium | CVE-2025-38268 severity moderate: SUSE including 358 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, …), 836 product×package rows across 128 product lines (Image SLES-Azure-3P, Image SLES-Azure-Basic, … (128 product lines)): Fixed 311, Known Not Affected 273, Known Affected 231, First Fixed 21. | https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38268/ |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2025-38268 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1548 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1142, ignored 162, not-affected 135, released 107, needs-triage 2. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38268 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 6.9.1, < 6.12.34 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 6.13, < 6.15.3 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.9 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.9:-:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| linux | linux_kernel | 6.9 | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.9:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* |