CVE-2025-38392 [Medium] | Security Vulnerability in Linux Kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: idpf: convert control queue mutex to a spinlock With VIRTCHNL2_CAP_MACFILTER enabled, the following warning is generated on module load: [ 324.701677] BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:578 [ 324.701684] in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 1582, name: NetworkManager [ 324.701689] preempt_count: 201, expected: 0 [ 324.701693] RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0 [ 324.701697] 2 locks held by NetworkManager/1582: [ 324.701702] #0: ffffffff9f7be770 (rtnl_mutex){....}-{3:3}, at: rtnl_newlink+0x791/0x21e0 [ 324.701730] #1: ff1100216c380368 (_xmit_ETHER){....}-{2:2}, at: __dev_open+0x3f0/0x870 [ 324.701749] Preemption disabled at: [ 324.701752] [<ffffffff9cd23b9d>] __dev_open+0x3dd/0x870 [ 324.701765] CPU: 30 UID: 0 PID: 1582 Comm: NetworkManager Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5+ #2 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 324.701771] Hardware name: Intel Corporation M50FCP2SBSTD/M50FCP2SBSTD, BIOS SE5C741.86B.01.01.0001.2211140926 11/14/2022 [ 324.701774] Call Trace: [ 324.701777] <TASK> [ 324.701779] dump_stack_lvl+0x5d/0x80 [ 324.701788] ? __dev_open+0x3dd/0x870 [ 324.701793] __might_resched.cold+0x1ef/0x23d <..> [ 324.701818] __mutex_lock+0x113/0x1b80 <..> [ 324.701917] idpf_ctlq_clean_sq+0xad/0x4b0 [idpf] [ 324.701935] ? kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 324.701941] idpf_mb_clean+0x143/0x380 [idpf] <..> [ 324.701991] idpf_send_mb_msg+0x111/0x720 [idpf] [ 324.702009] idpf_vc_xn_exec+0x4cc/0x990 [idpf] [ 324.702021] ? rcu_is_watching+0x12/0xc0 [ 324.702035] idpf_add_del_mac_filters+0x3ed/0xb50 [idpf] <..> [ 324.702122] __hw_addr_sync_dev+0x1cf/0x300 [ 324.702126] ? find_held_lock+0x32/0x90 [ 324.702134] idpf_set_rx_mode+0x317/0x390 [idpf] [ 324.702152] __dev_open+0x3f8/0x870 [ 324.702159] ? __pfx___dev_open+0x10/0x10 [ 324.702174] __dev_change_flags+0x443/0x650 <..> [ 324.702208] netif_change_flags+0x80/0x160 [ 324.702218] do_setlink.isra.0+0x16a0/0x3960 <..> [ 324.702349] rtnl_newlink+0x12fd/0x21e0 The sequence is as follows: rtnl_newlink()-> __dev_change_flags()-> __dev_open()-> dev_set_rx_mode() - > # disables BH and grabs "dev->addr_list_lock" idpf_set_rx_mode() -> # proceed only if VIRTCHNL2_CAP_MACFILTER is ON __dev_uc_sync() -> idpf_add_mac_filter -> idpf_add_del_mac_filters -> idpf_send_mb_msg() -> idpf_mb_clean() -> idpf_ctlq_clean_sq() # mutex_lock(cq_lock) Fix by converting cq_lock to a spinlock. All operations under the new lock are safe except freeing the DMA memory, which may use vunmap(). Fix by requesting a contiguous physical memory for the DMA mapping.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-25	0.14%	0.15%	+0.01%
2	2026-06-15	0.02%	0.14%	+0.13%
3	2025-07-26	—	0.02%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-25

0.14%

0.15%

+0.01%

2026-06-15

0.02%

0.14%

+0.13%

2025-07-26

—

0.02%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
5.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	3.6	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

5.5

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

3.6

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38392

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2025-38392 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-2025-38392
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38392
`suse`	medium	CVE-2025-38392 severity moderate: SUSE including 537 source package names (2.1.3-6.67:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-32.1.21.10, 2.1.3-7.44:kernel-default-6.4.0-32.1, …), 1043 product×package rows across 200 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (200 product lines)): Fixed 690, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 101, First Fixed 21.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-38392/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2025-38392 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1414 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1017, ignored 155, released 138, not-affected 95, needed 6, needs-triage 2, pending 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-38392

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38392

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.7, < 6.12.37	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	>= 6.13, < 6.15.6	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.16	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.16	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.16	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3::::::
linux	linux_kernel	6.16	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4::::::

References for CVE-2025-38392

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a36715cd6bc6a6f16230e19a7f947bab34b3fe5	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b2beb5bb2cd90d7939e470ed4da468683f41baa3	Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc6c3c2c9dfdaa3a3357f59a80a2904677a71a9a	Patch

URL

CVE-2025-38392 | idpf: convert control queue mutex to a spinlock

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-38392

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-38392

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-38392

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-38392

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-38392

References for CVE-2025-38392