# CVE-2025-38392: idpf: convert control queue mutex to a spinlock

Status: published. Published: 2025-07-25. Updated: 2026-11-05.

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

idpf: convert control queue mutex to a spinlock

With VIRTCHNL2_CAP_MACFILTER enabled, the following warning is generated
on module load:

[  324.701677] BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at kernel/locking/mutex.c:578
[  324.701684] in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 1582, name: NetworkManager
[  324.701689] preempt_count: 201, expected: 0
[  324.701693] RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0
[  324.701697] 2 locks held by NetworkManager/1582:
[  324.701702]  #0: ffffffff9f7be770 (rtnl_mutex){....}-{3:3}, at: rtnl_newlink+0x791/0x21e0
[  324.701730]  #1: ff1100216c380368 (_xmit_ETHER){....}-{2:2}, at: __dev_open+0x3f0/0x870
[  324.701749] Preemption disabled at:
[  324.701752] [<ffffffff9cd23b9d>] __dev_open+0x3dd/0x870
[  324.701765] CPU: 30 UID: 0 PID: 1582 Comm: NetworkManager Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5+ #2 PREEMPT(voluntary)
[  324.701771] Hardware name: Intel Corporation M50FCP2SBSTD/M50FCP2SBSTD, BIOS SE5C741.86B.01.01.0001.2211140926 11/14/2022
[  324.701774] Call Trace:
[  324.701777]  <TASK>
[  324.701779]  dump_stack_lvl+0x5d/0x80
[  324.701788]  ? __dev_open+0x3dd/0x870
[  324.701793]  __might_resched.cold+0x1ef/0x23d
<..>
[  324.701818]  __mutex_lock+0x113/0x1b80
<..>
[  324.701917]  idpf_ctlq_clean_sq+0xad/0x4b0 [idpf]
[  324.701935]  ? kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30
[  324.701941]  idpf_mb_clean+0x143/0x380 [idpf]
<..>
[  324.701991]  idpf_send_mb_msg+0x111/0x720 [idpf]
[  324.702009]  idpf_vc_xn_exec+0x4cc/0x990 [idpf]
[  324.702021]  ? rcu_is_watching+0x12/0xc0
[  324.702035]  idpf_add_del_mac_filters+0x3ed/0xb50 [idpf]
<..>
[  324.702122]  __hw_addr_sync_dev+0x1cf/0x300
[  324.702126]  ? find_held_lock+0x32/0x90
[  324.702134]  idpf_set_rx_mode+0x317/0x390 [idpf]
[  324.702152]  __dev_open+0x3f8/0x870
[  324.702159]  ? __pfx___dev_open+0x10/0x10
[  324.702174]  __dev_change_flags+0x443/0x650
<..>
[  324.702208]  netif_change_flags+0x80/0x160
[  324.702218]  do_setlink.isra.0+0x16a0/0x3960
<..>
[  324.702349]  rtnl_newlink+0x12fd/0x21e0

The sequence is as follows:
	rtnl_newlink()->
	__dev_change_flags()->
	__dev_open()->
	dev_set_rx_mode() - >  # disables BH and grabs "dev->addr_list_lock"
	idpf_set_rx_mode() ->  # proceed only if VIRTCHNL2_CAP_MACFILTER is ON
	__dev_uc_sync() ->
	idpf_add_mac_filter ->
	idpf_add_del_mac_filters ->
	idpf_send_mb_msg() ->
	idpf_mb_clean() ->
	idpf_ctlq_clean_sq()   # mutex_lock(cq_lock)

Fix by converting cq_lock to a spinlock. All operations under the new
lock are safe except freeing the DMA memory, which may use vunmap(). Fix
by requesting a contiguous physical memory for the DMA mapping.

## Remediation

No remediation reported in collected sources

## Affected products and versions

- Linux / Linux: ≥ a251eee62133774cf35ff829041377e721ef9c8c; < 9a36715cd6bc6a6f16230e19a7f947bab34b3fe5 (affected, git); ≥ a251eee62133774cf35ff829041377e721ef9c8c; < dc6c3c2c9dfdaa3a3357f59a80a2904677a71a9a (affected, git); ≥ a251eee62133774cf35ff829041377e721ef9c8c; < b2beb5bb2cd90d7939e470ed4da468683f41baa3 (affected, git). Source: CNA: Linux
- Linux / Linux: 6.7 (affected); ≥ 0; < 6.7 (unaffected, semver); ≥ 6.12.37; ≤ 6.12.* (unaffected, semver); ≥ 6.15.6; ≤ 6.15.* (unaffected, semver); ≥ 6.16; ≤ * (unaffected, original_commit_for_fix). Source: CNA: Linux

## Severity and prioritization

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.19% as of 2026-11-05; percentile 8.65%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable no; technical impact partial; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: Not reported

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a36715cd6bc6a6f16230e19a7f947bab34b3fe5 (CNA: Linux)

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dc6c3c2c9dfdaa3a3357f59a80a2904677a71a9a (CNA: Linux)

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b2beb5bb2cd90d7939e470ed4da468683f41baa3 (CNA: Linux)

## Provenance

- CNA: Linux: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38392; retrieved 2026-11-05; source updated 2026-11-05

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2025-38392; retrieved 2026-11-05; source updated Not reported

Revision: 686a790ef632ebf85b93dc1a8e8dac7b90e26785d2c115a538a822c574a6ba76

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2025-38392

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