CVE-2025-38670
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64/entry: Mask DAIF in cpu_switch_to(), call_on_irq_stack() `cpu_switch_to()` and `call_on_irq_stack()` manipulate SP to change to different stacks along with the Shadow Call Stack if it is enabled. Those two stack changes cannot be done atomically and both functions can be interrupted by SErrors or Debug Exceptions which, though unlikely, is very much broken : if interrupted, we can end up with mismatched stacks and Shadow Call Stack leading to clobbered stacks. In `cpu_switch_to()`, it can happen when SP_EL0 points to the new task, but x18 stills points to the old task's SCS. When the interrupt handler tries to save the task's SCS pointer, it will save the old task SCS pointer (x18) into the new task struct (pointed to by SP_EL0), clobbering it. In `call_on_irq_stack()`, it can happen when switching from the task stack to the IRQ stack and when switching back. In both cases, we can be interrupted when the SCS pointer points to the IRQ SCS, but SP points to the task stack. The nested interrupt handler pushes its return addresses on the IRQ SCS. It then detects that SP points to the task stack, calls `call_on_irq_stack()` and clobbers the task SCS pointer with the IRQ SCS pointer, which it will also use ! This leads to tasks returning to addresses on the wrong SCS, or even on the IRQ SCS, triggering kernel panics via CONFIG_VMAP_STACK or FPAC if enabled. This is possible on a default config, but unlikely. However, when enabling CONFIG_ARM64_PSEUDO_NMI, DAIF is unmasked and instead the GIC is responsible for filtering what interrupts the CPU should receive based on priority. Given the goal of emulating NMIs, pseudo-NMIs can be received by the CPU even in `cpu_switch_to()` and `call_on_irq_stack()`, possibly *very* frequently depending on the system configuration and workload, leading to unpredictable kernel panics. Completely mask DAIF in `cpu_switch_to()` and restore it when returning. Do the same in `call_on_irq_stack()`, but restore and mask around the branch. Mask DAIF even if CONFIG_SHADOW_CALL_STACK is not enabled for consistency of behaviour between all configurations. Introduce and use an assembly macro for saving and masking DAIF, as the existing one saves but only masks IF.
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 analysisA 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>= 5.10.180, < 5.10.210>= 5.15.111, < 5.15.190>= 6.1.28, < 6.1.149>= 6.2.15, < 6.6.101>= 6.7, < 6.12.41>= 6.13, < 6.15.9= 6.16= 11.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 · scoped5.10.2105.15.1906.1.149
Upgrade to Linux kernel 5.10.210+, 5.15.190+, 6.1.149+, or 6.6.101+ (or any later stable release)
- Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- Consult your Linux distribution's kernel package repository to obtain a patched kernel version
- For RHEL/CentOS/Fedora: upgrade kernel via 'dnf update kernel' or 'yum update kernel'
- For Debian/Ubuntu: upgrade via 'apt update && apt install linux-image-<version>' or 'apt-get dist-upgrade'
- After kernel installation, reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- Verify the new kernel version is running post-reboot with 'uname -r' and confirm the version is >= 5.10.210, >= 5.15.190, >= 6.1.149, or >= 6.6.101
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-38670 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-38670 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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