CVE-2025-37969

Kernel hang via zero-length FIFO pattern

Published May 20, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

Denial of service in the Linux st_lsm6dsx IMU driver allows local users to hang affected kernels through a nonempty device FIFO. st_lsm6dsx_read_tagged_fifo loops indefinitely when pattern_len is zero while the device FIFO still contains data, so the FIFO drain loop makes no progress. Reachability requires the affected IIO driver and compatible ST IMU hardware; the reported consequence is a kernel hang, not data access or modification.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in the Linux st_lsm6dsx IMU driver allows local users to hang affected kernels through a nonempty device FIFO. st_lsm6dsx_read_tagged_fifo loops indefinitely when pattern_len is zero while the device FIFO still contains data, so the FIFO drain loop makes no progress. Reachability requires the affected IIO driver and compatible ST IMU hardware; the reported consequence is a kernel hang, not data access or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-37969
Published
May 20, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-667, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 20, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=4.20
  2. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <16857370b3a30663515956b3bd27f3def6a2cf06
  3. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <35b8c0a284983b71d92d082c54b7eb655ed4194f
  4. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <4db7d923a8c298788181b796f71adf6ca499f966
  5. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <76727a1d81afde77d21ea8feaeb12d34605be6f4
  6. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <8114ef86e2058e2554111b793596f17bee23fa15
  7. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <9ce662851380fe2018e36e15c0bdcb1ad177ed95
  8. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <9ddb4cf2192c213e4dba1733bbcdc94cf6d85bf7
  9. Affected versionversion=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <dadf9116108315f2eb14c7415c7805f392c476b4

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=4.20; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <16857370b3a30663515956b3bd27f3def6a2cf06; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <35b8c0a284983b71d92d082c54b7eb655ed4194f; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <4db7d923a8c298788181b796f71adf6ca499f966; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <76727a1d81afde77d21ea8feaeb12d34605be6f4; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <8114ef86e2058e2554111b793596f17bee23fa15; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <9ce662851380fe2018e36e15c0bdcb1ad177ed95; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <9ddb4cf2192c213e4dba1733bbcdc94cf6d85bf7; version=801a6e0af0c6cedca2e99155e343ad385a50f08e <dadf9116108315f2eb14c7415c7805f392c476b4

Published CVSS scores

5.5UbuntuCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-667Improper Locking
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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