Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-37868

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.25 / 6.14 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/xe/userptr: fix notifier vs folio deadlock User is reporting what smells like notifier vs folio deadlock, where migrate_pages_batch() on core kernel side is holding folio lock(s) and then interacting with the mappings of it, however those mappings are tied to some userptr, which means calling into the notifier callback and grabbing the notifier lock. With perfect timing it looks possible that the pages we pulled from the hmm fault can get sniped by migrate_pages_batch() at the same time that we are holding the notifier lock to mark the pages as accessed/dirty, but at this point we also want to grab the folio locks(s) to mark them as dirty, but if they are contended from notifier/migrate_pages_batch side then we deadlock since folio lock won't be dropped until we drop the notifier lock. Fortunately the mark_page_accessed/dirty is not really needed in the first place it seems and should have already been done by hmm fault, so just remove it. (cherry picked from commit bd7c0cb695e87c0e43247be8196b4919edbe0e85)

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-667

Shared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.

General guidance for the improper locking class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.12.19, < 6.12.25>= 6.13.7, < 6.14>= 6.14.1, < 6.14.4= 6.14= 6.15

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.12.25 / 6.14 / 6.14.4 or later
Fixed in 6.12.256.146.14.4
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.12.25+, 6.14+, or 6.14.4+ (depending on which branch you're on)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. If running kernel 6.12.19-6.12.24: upgrade to kernel 6.12.25 or later
  3. If running kernel 6.13.7-6.13.x: upgrade to kernel 6.14 or later
  4. If running kernel 6.14.0: upgrade to kernel 6.14.4 or later
  5. If running kernel 6.14.1-6.14.3: upgrade to kernel 6.14.4 or later
  6. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  7. Alternatively, if building from source, apply commit 2577b202458cddff85cc154b1fe7f313e0d1f418 (backport of bd7c0cb695e87c0e43247be8196b4919edbe0e85) to the kernel source and rebuild
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree modules; ensure driver compatibility (especially drm/xe) before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-37868 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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