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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38623

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.241 / 5.15.190 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: PCI: pnv_php: Fix surprise plug detection and recovery The existing PowerNV hotplug code did not handle surprise plug events correctly, leading to a complete failure of the hotplug system after device removal and a required reboot to detect new devices. This comes down to two issues: 1) When a device is surprise removed, often the bridge upstream port will cause a PE freeze on the PHB. If this freeze is not cleared, the MSI interrupts from the bridge hotplug notification logic will not be received by the kernel, stalling all plug events on all slots associated with the PE. 2) When a device is removed from a slot, regardless of surprise or programmatic removal, the associated PHB/PE ls left frozen. If this freeze is not cleared via a fundamental reset, skiboot is unable to clear the freeze and cannot retrain / rescan the slot. This also requires a reboot to clear the freeze and redetect the device in the slot. Issue the appropriate unfreeze and rescan commands on hotplug events, and don't oops on hotplug if pci_bus_to_OF_node() returns NULL. [bhelgaas: tidy comments]

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:>= 4.9, < 5.10.241>= 5.11, < 5.15.190>= 5.16, < 6.1.148>= 6.2, < 6.6.102>= 6.7, < 6.12.42>= 6.13, < 6.15.10>= 6.16, < 6.16.1
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
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 5.10.241 / 5.15.190 / 6.1.148 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2415.15.1906.1.148
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 5.10.241, >= 5.15.190, >= 6.1.148, or >= 6.6.102 depending on your current branch; for Debian 11 upgrade to Debian 12 or a newer kernel package if available

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Based on your current kernel branch, upgrade to the minimum fixed version: for 5.10.x upgrade to >= 5.10.241, for 5.11-5.15.x upgrade to >= 5.15.190, for 5.16-6.1.x upgrade to >= 6.1.148, for 6.2-6.6.x upgrade to >= 6.6.102
  3. 3. For Debian 11 (bullseye), check if a point release with the fix is available via `apt update && apt-cache policy linux-image-*` or upgrade to Debian 12 which includes a newer kernel
  4. 4. After upgrading the kernel, reboot the system
  5. 5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the pnv_php module loads without errors

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

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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-2025-38623 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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