Kernel crash via premature GMU register access
Published Jul 25, 2025 · Updated May 23, 2026
Denial of service in Linux 6.0 and affected stable branches allows local users to trigger a kernel crash during hot MSM GPU initialization. msm_devfreq_init() suspends devfreq without setting df->suspended, so msm_devfreq_get_dev_status() reads GMU registers before GMU initialization. Reachability requires an MSM Adreno A6xx GPU that is already hot when devfreq cooling registers during boot; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in Linux 6.0 and affected stable branches allows local users to trigger a kernel crash during hot MSM GPU initialization. msm_devfreq_init() suspends devfreq without setting df->suspended, so msm_devfreq_get_dev_status() reads GMU registers before GMU initialization. Reachability requires an MSM Adreno A6xx GPU that is already hot when devfreq cooling registers during boot; the bounded consequence is a kernel crash.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38354
- Published
- Jul 25, 2025
- Updated
- May 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 25, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 23, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=1f6c087dd6a915f1c3471f0f0f696847fc8c592f
- Affected versionversion=5.18.18 <5.19
- Affected versionversion=5.19.2 <5.20
- Affected versionversion=6.0
- Affected versionversion=6694482a70e9536efbf2ac233cbf0c302d6e2dae <1847ea44e3bdf7da8ff4158bc01b43a2e46394bd
- Affected versionversion=6694482a70e9536efbf2ac233cbf0c302d6e2dae <7946a10f8da75abc494e4bb80243e153e93e459a
- Affected versionversion=6694482a70e9536efbf2ac233cbf0c302d6e2dae <a6f673cc9488fd722c601fe020601dba14db21b2
- Affected versionversion=6694482a70e9536efbf2ac233cbf0c302d6e2dae <ae2015b0dbc0eea7aaf022194371f451f784d994
- Affected versionversion=6694482a70e9536efbf2ac233cbf0c302d6e2dae <b71717735be48d7743a34897e9e44a0b53e30c0e
- Affected versionversion=9c8b3f05fb18fba12f3fca80a378c9b8f3d04cd6
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo