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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38535

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.241 / 5.15.190 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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: phy: tegra: xusb: Fix unbalanced regulator disable in UTMI PHY mode When transitioning from USB_ROLE_DEVICE to USB_ROLE_NONE, the code assumed that the regulator should be disabled. However, if the regulator is marked as always-on, regulator_is_enabled() continues to return true, leading to an incorrect attempt to disable a regulator which is not enabled. This can result in warnings such as: [ 250.155624] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7326 at drivers/regulator/core.c:3004 _regulator_disable+0xe4/0x1a0 [ 250.155652] unbalanced disables for VIN_SYS_5V0 To fix this, we move the regulator control logic into tegra186_xusb_padctl_id_override() function since it's directly related to the ID override state. The regulator is now only disabled when the role transitions from USB_ROLE_HOST to USB_ROLE_NONE, by checking the VBUS_ID register. This ensures that regulator enable/disable operations are properly balanced and only occur when actually transitioning to/from host mode.

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:>= 5.7, < 5.10.241>= 5.11, < 5.15.190>= 5.16, < 6.1.147>= 6.2, < 6.6.100>= 6.7, < 6.12.40>= 6.13, < 6.15.8= 6.16
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 5.10.241 / 5.15.190 / 6.1.147 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2415.15.1906.1.147
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, or 6.6.100 (depending on your branch); Debian 11.0 requires distribution kernel update

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which version branch your kernel belongs to (e.g., 5.10.x, 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.6.x)
  3. For Debian 11 (bullseye), check if the distribution has released a kernel update via 'apt update && apt list --upgradable'
  4. Upgrade the kernel package using 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install linux-image-<version>' for your distribution
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking 'uname -r' shows a version >= the fixed release (5.10.241, 5.15.190, 6.1.147, or 6.6.100)
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel modules and could affect third-party drivers; ensure all system backups are current before rebooting

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 $1,950. 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-2025-38535 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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