Vulnerability in Linux
CVE-2025-38521
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/imagination: Fix kernel crash when hard resetting the GPU The GPU hard reset sequence calls pm_runtime_force_suspend() and pm_runtime_force_resume(), which according to their documentation should only be used during system-wide PM transitions to sleep states. The main issue though is that depending on some internal runtime PM state as seen by pm_runtime_force_suspend() (whether the usage count is <= 1), pm_runtime_force_resume() might not resume the device unless needed. If that happens, the runtime PM resume callback pvr_power_device_resume() is not called, the GPU clocks are not re-enabled, and the kernel crashes on the next attempt to access GPU registers as part of the power-on sequence. Replace calls to pm_runtime_force_suspend() and pm_runtime_force_resume() with direct calls to the driver's runtime PM callbacks, pvr_power_device_suspend() and pvr_power_device_resume(), to ensure clocks are re-enabled and avoid the kernel crash.
EPSS: 0.001 (4.5th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.1 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H.
Affected products
- Linux — versions cc1aeedb98ad347c06ff59e991b2f94dfb4c565d, 6.8, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel — versions 6.16
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-38521?
- CVE-2025-38521 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere. CVSS score: 7.1/10. Published 2025-08-16.
- How severe is CVE-2025-38521?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.1 out of 10.