CVE-2025-39726

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/ism: fix concurrency management in ism_cmd() The s390x ISM device data sheet clearly states that only one request-response sequence is allowable per ISM function at any point in time. Unfortunately as of today the s390/ism driver in Linux does not honor that requirement. This patch aims to rectify that. This problem was discovered based on Aliaksei's bug report which states that for certain workloads the ISM functions end up entering error state (with PEC 2 as seen from the logs) after a while and as a consequence connections handled by the respective function break, and for future connection requests the ISM device is not considered -- given it is in a dysfunctional state. During further debugging PEC 3A was observed as well. A kernel message like [ 1211.244319] zpci: 061a:00:00.0: Event 0x2 reports an error for PCI function 0x61a is a reliable indicator of the stated function entering error state with PEC 2. Let me also point out that a kernel message like [ 1211.244325] zpci: 061a:00:00.0: The ism driver bound to the device does not support error recovery is a reliable indicator that the ISM function won't be auto-recovered because the ISM driver currently lacks support for it. On a technical level, without this synchronization, commands (inputs to the FW) may be partially or fully overwritten (corrupted) by another CPU trying to issue commands on the same function. There is hard evidence that this can lead to DMB token values being used as DMB IOVAs, leading to PEC 2 PCI events indicating invalid DMA. But this is only one of the failure modes imaginable. In theory even completely losing one command and executing another one twice and then trying to interpret the outputs as if the command we intended to execute was actually executed and not the other one is also possible. Frankly, I don't feel confident about providing an exhaustive list of possible consequences.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-09-05
Last modified 2025-11-25
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

4.7

out of 10
Medium
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-362

CVE-2025-39726 is a Race Condition vulnerability

What is Race Condition?

The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, creating unexpected states. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.19 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.6.101, 6.12.41, 6.15.9, 6.16 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 4.19
Fixed in
✓ 6.6.101 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.41 6.12.x ✓ 6.15.9 6.15.x ✓ 6.16

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-39726 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2025-39726?

    CVE-2025-39726 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 4.7 out of 10 , classified as a Race Condition flaw (CWE-362) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.19 onward and has been patched in 6.6.101, 6.12.41, 6.15.9 and others. CVE-2025-39726 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-39726?

    CVE-2025-39726 has a CVSS score of 4.7 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-39726?

    Yes — CVE-2025-39726 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.6.101, 6.12.41, 6.15.9 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 4.19 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2025-39726 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2025-39726 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

  • What is Race Condition (CWE-362)?

    The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, creating unexpected states. View CWE-362 on MITRE CWE →