CVE-2025-40194

System crash via premature policy reference release

Published Nov 12, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026

A lifecycle flaw in the Linux kernel intel_pstate driver allows attackers to crash a virtualized system during CPU hot removal. update_qos_request() releases its policy reference before freq_qos_update_request() indirectly accesses that policy through the retained QoS request. The path is limited to virtualized environments supporting CPU device hot removal, and triggering it requires control of that operation.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A lifecycle flaw in the Linux kernel intel_pstate driver allows attackers to crash a virtualized system during CPU hot removal. update_qos_request() releases its policy reference before freq_qos_update_request() indirectly accesses that policy through the retained QoS request. The path is limited to virtualized environments supporting CPU device hot removal, and triggering it requires control of that operation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-40194
Published
Nov 12, 2025
Updated
May 11, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
Unavailable
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 12, 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=5.4
  2. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <0a58d3e77b22b087a57831c87cafd360e144a5bd
  3. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <15ac9579ebdaf22a37d7f60b3a8efc1029732ef9
  4. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <57e4a6aadf12578b96a038373cffd54b3a58b092
  5. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <69a18ff6c60e8e113420f15355fad862cb45d38e
  6. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <69e5d50fcf4093fb3f9f41c4f931f12c2ca8c467
  7. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <ad4e8f9bdbef11a19b7cb93e7f313bf59bdcc3b4
  8. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <ba63d4e9857a72a89e71a4eff9f2cc8c283e94c3
  9. Affected versionversion=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <bc26564bcc659beb6d977cd6eb394041ec2f2851

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorUnavailable in this record.
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.4; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <0a58d3e77b22b087a57831c87cafd360e144a5bd; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <15ac9579ebdaf22a37d7f60b3a8efc1029732ef9; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <57e4a6aadf12578b96a038373cffd54b3a58b092; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <69a18ff6c60e8e113420f15355fad862cb45d38e; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <69e5d50fcf4093fb3f9f41c4f931f12c2ca8c467; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <ad4e8f9bdbef11a19b7cb93e7f313bf59bdcc3b4; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <ba63d4e9857a72a89e71a4eff9f2cc8c283e94c3; version=da5c504c7aae96db68c4b38e2564a88e91842d89 <bc26564bcc659beb6d977cd6eb394041ec2f2851

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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)
VectorUnavailable
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

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

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Your stack

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