CVE-2025-38670

HighCVSS 7.1/10Last modified Jul 30, 2026

Description

In 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.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1 7.1/10CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Weakness enumeration

Affected software

No affected versions have been published.

Timeline

Published
Aug 22, 2025
Last modified
Jul 30, 2026
NVD status
Modified

Related CVEs from 2025

CVE-2025-386715.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: i2c: qup: jump out of the loop in case of timeout Original logic only CVE-2025-386725.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "drm/gem-dma: Use dma_buf from GEM object instance" This revertCVE-2025-386735.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "drm/gem-framebuffer: Use dma_buf from GEM object instance" ThiCVE-2025-386745.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Revert "drm/prime: Use dma_buf from GEM object instance" This reverts CVE-2025-386754.7In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xfrm: state: initialize state_ptrs earlier in xfrm_state_find In case CVE-2025-386767.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/amd: Avoid stack buffer overflow from kernel cmdline While the kCVE-2025-386777.1In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: f2fs: fix to avoid out-of-boundary access in dnode page As Jiaming ZhaCVE-2025-386785.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: reject duplicate device on updates A chain/flowtCVE-2025-386797.1In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: venus: Fix OOB read due to missing payload bound check CurrentlCVE-2025-38686.1The Custom Admin-Bar Favorites plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the 'menuObject' parameter in all veCVE-2025-386807.1In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: uvcvideo: Fix 1-byte out-of-bounds read in uvc_parse_format() TCVE-2025-386814.7In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/ptdump: take the memory hotplug lock inside ptdump_walk_pgd() Memor
CVE-2025-38670: High severity, CVSS 7.1 | Vulnix