CVE-2025-38062
MediumIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: genirq/msi: Store the IOMMU IOVA directly in msi_desc instead of iommu_cookie The IOMMU translation for MSI message addresses has been a 2-step process, separated in time: 1) iommu_dma_prepare_msi(): A cookie pointer containing the IOVA address is stored in the MSI descriptor when an MSI interrupt is allocated. 2) iommu_dma_compose_msi_msg(): this cookie pointer is used to compute a translated message address. This has an inherent lifetime problem for the pointer stored in the cookie that must remain valid between the two steps. However, there is no locking at the irq layer that helps protect the lifetime. Today, this works under the assumption that the iommu domain is not changed while MSI interrupts being programmed. This is true for normal DMA API users within the kernel, as the iommu domain is attached before the driver is probed and cannot be changed while a driver is attached. Classic VFIO type1 also prevented changing the iommu domain while VFIO was running as it does not support changing the "container" after starting up. However, iommufd has improved this so that the iommu domain can be changed during VFIO operation. This potentially allows userspace to directly race VFIO_DEVICE_ATTACH_IOMMUFD_PT (which calls iommu_attach_group()) and VFIO_DEVICE_SET_IRQS (which calls into iommu_dma_compose_msi_msg()). This potentially causes both the cookie pointer and the unlocked call to iommu_get_domain_for_dev() on the MSI translation path to become UAFs. Fix the MSI cookie UAF by removing the cookie pointer. The translated IOVA address is already known during iommu_dma_prepare_msi() and cannot change. Thus, it can simply be stored as an integer in the MSI descriptor. The other UAF related to iommu_get_domain_for_dev() will be addressed in patch "iommu: Make iommu_dma_prepare_msi() into a generic operation" by using the IOMMU group mutex.
CVSS 3.1 score
5.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
5.2
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.1.141,
6.6.93,
6.12.31,
6.14.9,
6.15
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-38062 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.
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Third Party Advisory
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1f7df3a691740a7736bbc99dc4ed536120eb4746
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53f42776e435f63e5f8e61955e4c205dbfeaf524
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/856152eb91e67858a09e30a7149a1f29b04b7384
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2025-38062?
CVE-2025-38062 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.2 onward and has been patched in 6.1.141, 6.6.93, 6.12.31 and others. CVE-2025-38062 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-38062?
CVE-2025-38062 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. -
Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-38062?
Yes — CVE-2025-38062 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.141, 6.6.93, 6.12.31 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.2 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2025-38062 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2025-38062 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.