CVE-2025-38388

CVE-2025-38388 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel with a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-667.

Key facts

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: firmware: arm_ffa: Replace mutex with rwlock to avoid sleep in atomic context The current use of a mutex to protect the notifier hashtable accesses can lead to issues in the atomic context. It results in the below kernel warnings: | BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:258 | in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 1, non_block: 0, pid: 9, name: kworker/0:0 | preempt_count: 1, expected: 0 | RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0 | CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 9 Comm: kworker/0:0 Not tainted 6.14.0 #4 | Workqueue: ffa_pcpu_irq_notification notif_pcpu_irq_work_fn | Call trace: | show_stack+0x18/0x24 (C) | dump_stack_lvl+0x78/0x90 | dump_stack+0x18/0x24 | __might_resched+0x114/0x170 | __might_sleep+0x48/0x98 | mutex_lock+0x24/0x80 | handle_notif_callbacks+0x54/0xe0 | notif_get_and_handle+0x40/0x88 | generic_exec_single+0x80/0xc0 | smp_call_function_single+0xfc/0x1a0 | notif_pcpu_irq_work_fn+0x2c/0x38 | process_one_work+0x14c/0x2b4 | worker_thread+0x2e4/0x3e0 | kthread+0x13c/0x210 | ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 To address this, replace the mutex with an rwlock to protect the notifier hashtable accesses. This ensures that read-side locking does not sleep and multiple readers can acquire the lock concurrently, avoiding unnecessary contention and potential deadlocks. Writer access remains exclusive, preserving correctness. This change resolves warnings from lockdep about potential sleep in atomic context.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-38388?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: firmware: arm_ffa: Replace mutex with rwlock to avoid sleep in atomic context The current use of a mutex to protect the notifier hashtable accesses can lead to issues in the atomic context. It results in the below kernel warnings: | BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:258 | in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 1, non_block: 0, pid: 9, name: kworker/0:0 | preempt_count: 1, expected: 0 | RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0 | CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 9 Comm: kworker/0:0 Not tainted 6.14.0 #4 | Workqueue: ffa_pcpu_irq_notification notif_pcpu_irq_work_fn | Call trace: | show_stack+0x18/0x24 (C) | dump_stack_lvl+0x78/0x90 | dump_stack+0x18/0x24 | __might_resched+0x114/0x170 | __might_sleep+0x48/0x98 | mutex_lock+0x24/0x80 | handle_notif_callbacks+0x54/0xe0 | notif_get_and_handle+0x40/0x88 | generic_exec_single+0x80/0xc0 | smp_call_function_single+0xfc/0x1a0 | notif_pcpu_irq_work_fn+0x2c/0x38 | process_one_work+0x14c/0x2b4 | worker_thread+0x2e4/0x3e0 | kthread+0x13c/0x210 | ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 To address this, replace the mutex with an rwlock to protect the notifier hashtable accesses. This ensures that read-side locking does not sleep and multiple readers can acquire the lock concurrently, avoiding unnecessary contention and potential deadlocks. Writer access remains exclusive, preserving correctness. This change resolves warnings from lockdep about potential sleep in atomic context.
How severe is CVE-2025-38388?
CVE-2025-38388 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 5.5, rated medium severity. It is exploitable over local access with low attack complexity, requires low privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2025-38388 being actively exploited?
It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (2nd percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2025-38388?
CVE-2025-38388 primarily affects Linux Linux Kernel. In total, 5 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38388?
Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround.
Does CVE-2025-38388 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
Yes. CVE-2025-38388 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2025-22615.
When was CVE-2025-38388 published?
CVE-2025-38388 was published on 2025-07-25 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (5)

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