CVE-2025-38137
Description
From CVE.org
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI/pwrctrl: Cancel outstanding rescan work when unregistering It's possible to trigger use-after-free here by: (a) forcing rescan_work_func() to take a long time and (b) utilizing a pwrctrl driver that may be unloaded for some reason Cancel outstanding work to ensure it is finished before we allow our data structures to be cleaned up. [bhelgaas: tidy commit log]
Statement
Fixes a use-after-free vulnerability in the PCI/pwrctrl subsystem. If rescan_work_func() is still executing when the pwrctrl structure is freed (e.g., upon driver removal), the system may crash or exhibit undefined behavior. The vulnerability can potentially be triggered by a local attacker with limited privileges by forcing long-running rescan work and unloading the related driver concurrently. This bug not introduced yet in any version of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux, so not affected for all versions (apart from latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 where going to check this additionally).
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.3 | 7.8 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | Local | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | Low | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Memory
The use of previously freed memory may corrupt valid data, if the memory area in question has been allocated and used properly elsewhere.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
If chunk consolidation occurs after the use of previously freed data, the process may crash when invalid data is used as chunk information.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Memory
Read operations on freed memory can sometimes leak sensitive information instead of causing a crash
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If malicious data is entered before chunk consolidation can take place, it may be possible to take advantage of a write-what-where primitive to execute arbitrary code. If the newly allocated data happens to hold a class, in C++ for example, various function pointers may be scattered within the heap data. If one of these function pointers is overwritten with an address to valid shellcode, execution of arbitrary code can be achieved.
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