CVE-2025-38594

  • Published: 2025-08-19T17:15:37.213

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

iommu/vt-d: Fix UAF on sva unbind with pending IOPFs

Commit 17fce9d2336d (“iommu/vt-d: Put iopf enablement in domain attach
path”) disables IOPF on device by removing the device from its IOMMU’s
IOPF queue when the last IOPF-capable domain is detached from the device.
Unfortunately, it did this in a wrong place where there are still pending
IOPFs. As a result, a use-after-free error is potentially triggered and
eventually a kernel panic with a kernel trace similar to the following:

refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.
WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 313 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xd8/0xe0
Workqueue: iopf_queue/dmar0-iopfq iommu_sva_handle_iopf
Call Trace:

iopf_free_group+0xe/0x20
process_one_work+0x197/0x3d0
worker_thread+0x23a/0x350
? rescuer_thread+0x4a0/0x4a0
kthread+0xf8/0x230
? finish_task_switch.isra.0+0x81/0x260
? kthreads_online_cpu+0x110/0x110
? kthreads_online_cpu+0x110/0x110
ret_from_fork+0x13b/0x170
? kthreads_online_cpu+0x110/0x110
ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20

—[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]—

The intel_pasid_tear_down_entry() function is responsible for blocking
hardware from generating new page faults and flushing all in-flight
ones. Therefore, moving iopf_for_domain_remove() after this function
should resolve this.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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How to fix CVE-2025-38594

CVE-2025-38594 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/vt-d: Fix UAF on sva unbind with pending IOPFs Commit 17fce9d2336d (“iommu/vt-d: Put iopf enablement in domain attach path”) disables IOPF on device by removing the device from its IOMMU’s IOPF queue when the last IOPF-capable domain is detached from the device. Unfortunately, it did […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Aug 19, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.