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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38272

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.46 / 6.15.3 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: net: dsa: b53: do not enable EEE on bcm63xx BCM63xx internal switches do not support EEE, but provide multiple RGMII ports where external PHYs may be connected. If one of these PHYs are EEE capable, we may try to enable EEE for the MACs, which then hangs the system on access of the (non-existent) EEE registers. Fix this by checking if the switch actually supports EEE before attempting to configure it.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 4.15, < 6.12.46>= 6.13, < 6.15.3

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 6.12.46 / 6.15.3 or later
Fixed in 6.12.466.15.3
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.12.46 or 6.15.3 (depending on current branch)

  1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r` or `cat /proc/version`
  2. Determine which stable kernel branch is in use (e.g., 6.12.x or 6.13.x/6.14.x)
  3. Upgrade to kernel version 6.12.46 or later if using the 6.12 branch
  4. Upgrade to kernel version 6.15.3 or later if using 6.13.x or 6.14.x branches
  5. Alternatively, apply the vendor patch commit 1237c2d4a8db79dfd4369bff6930b0e385ed7d5c to the current kernel source and rebuild
  6. After upgrade or patch application, verify the fix is present by checking the b53 driver source for the EEE support check
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce compatibility changes with custom modules or specific hardware configurations; ensure backup and test in non-production environment first

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

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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-2025-38272 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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