Kernel panic via incomplete PMU probe rollback
Published Jul 3, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Denial of service in the Linux kernel Arm NI driver allows local users to interrupt service through a kernel panic after probe failure. The arm_ni_probe error path leaves PMUs from earlier clock domains registered when a later domain's resource request fails, so a subsequent registration corrupts the PMU list. Reachability requires low-privileged local access, an affected Arm NI device, and an allocation failure during probing; the reported consequence is a host crash.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in the Linux kernel Arm NI driver allows local users to interrupt service through a kernel panic after probe failure. The arm_ni_probe error path leaves PMUs from earlier clock domains registered when a later domain's resource request fails, so a subsequent registration corrupts the PMU list. Reachability requires low-privileged local access, an affected Arm NI device, and an allocation failure during probing; the reported consequence is a host crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38168
- Published
- Jul 3, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 3, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=4d5a7680f2b4d0c2955e1d9f9a594b050d637436 <72caf9886e9c1731cf7bfe3eabc308b9268b21d6
- Affected versionversion=4d5a7680f2b4d0c2955e1d9f9a594b050d637436 <7e958e116e3be05a1f869b5a885fc5d674c7725f
- Affected versionversion=4d5a7680f2b4d0c2955e1d9f9a594b050d637436 <7f57afde6a44d9e044885e1125034edd4fda02e8
- Affected versionversion=6.12
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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