CVE-2025-40172

Kernel crash via zero-length DMA transfer

Published Nov 12, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026

Denial of service in the Linux QAIC accelerator driver allows local users to crash the kernel through a zero-length DMA request. find_and_map_user_pages() returns success without allocating the scatter-gather table when remaining is zero, and encode_addr_size_pairs() then dereferences the unset table. Exploitation requires local access to a system using the QAIC driver with a supported Qualcomm Cloud AI accelerator, and the bounded consequence is a general protection fault that interrupts the host.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.14%
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 QAIC accelerator driver allows local users to crash the kernel through a zero-length DMA request. find_and_map_user_pages() returns success without allocating the scatter-gather table when remaining is zero, and encode_addr_size_pairs() then dereferences the unset table. Exploitation requires local access to a system using the QAIC driver with a supported Qualcomm Cloud AI accelerator, and the bounded consequence is a general protection fault that interrupts the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-40172
Published
Nov 12, 2025
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 12, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=6.4.12 <6.5
  2. Affected versionversion=6.5
  3. Affected versionversion=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <11f08c30a3e4157305ba692f1d44cca5fc9a8fca
  4. Affected versionversion=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <1ab9733d14cc9987cc5dcd1f0ad1f416e302e2e6
  5. Affected versionversion=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <48b1d42286bfef7628b1d6c8c28d4e456c90f725
  6. Affected versionversion=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <551f1dfbcb7f3e6ed07f9d6c8c1c64337fcd0ede
  7. Affected versionversion=d410a96e5cb8c1ec7049c83f2edcd8bbfaf5d9b3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.4.12 <6.5; version=6.5; version=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <11f08c30a3e4157305ba692f1d44cca5fc9a8fca; version=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <1ab9733d14cc9987cc5dcd1f0ad1f416e302e2e6; version=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <48b1d42286bfef7628b1d6c8c28d4e456c90f725; version=96d3c1cadedb6ae2e8965e19cd12caa244afbd9c <551f1dfbcb7f3e6ed07f9d6c8c1c64337fcd0ede; version=d410a96e5cb8c1ec7049c83f2edcd8bbfaf5d9b3

Published CVSS scores

5.5Amazon LinuxCVSS: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

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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