CVE-2025-9613 in PCI Express Integrity and Data Encryption Specification
Summary
by MITRE • 12/09/2025
A vulnerability was discovered in the PCI Express (PCIe) Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE) specification, where insufficient guidance on tag reuse after completion timeouts may allow multiple outstanding Non-Posted Requests to share the same tag. This tag aliasing condition can result in completions being delivered to the wrong security context, potentially compromising data integrity and confidentiality.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/10/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-9613 resides within the PCI Express Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE) specification, a critical component of modern computing infrastructure that governs secure data transmission between devices. This flaw specifically targets the tag management mechanisms employed in PCIe transactions, where tags serve as unique identifiers for tracking request and completion operations. The vulnerability manifests when systems fail to properly handle tag reuse following completion timeouts, creating a scenario where multiple outstanding Non-Posted Requests can inadvertently share identical tags. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the protocol's ability to maintain transactional integrity and security context separation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate specification guidance regarding tag lifecycle management during timeout conditions. When a Non-Posted Request experiences a completion timeout, the system should properly invalidate or reassign the associated tag to prevent future conflicts. However, the current specification lacks sufficient requirements for robust tag management, allowing tag aliasing to occur. This condition creates a scenario where completion packets intended for one security context may be erroneously delivered to another, effectively enabling cross-context data leakage and potential information disclosure. The flaw operates at the protocol level, making it particularly dangerous as it can affect all systems implementing the PCIe IDE specification regardless of their specific hardware or software implementations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data corruption, potentially compromising the fundamental security assurances provided by the PCIe IDE framework. Attackers could exploit this condition to manipulate data flows between devices, potentially gaining access to sensitive information or disrupting critical system operations. The vulnerability affects systems where multiple outstanding transactions occur simultaneously, particularly in high-performance computing environments, data centers, and enterprise infrastructure where PCIe devices frequently communicate with varying security contexts. The risk is amplified in environments where security boundaries between different system components are critical for maintaining data confidentiality and integrity, as the tag aliasing could enable attackers to bypass traditional security mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2025-9613 require both architectural and implementation-level interventions to address the root cause of insufficient tag management guidance. System administrators should implement strict monitoring of PCIe transaction completion patterns and establish alerting mechanisms for unusual timeout behaviors that might indicate tag aliasing conditions. Hardware vendors must update their PCIe IDE implementations to enforce more rigorous tag validation procedures and ensure proper tag invalidation upon timeout events. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-362, which addresses race conditions in security contexts, and relates to ATT&CK technique T1070.004 for data manipulation through protocol-level attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as transaction integrity checking, enhanced logging of PCIe operations, and regular security assessments of their PCIe infrastructure to detect potential exploitation attempts. The remediation process requires careful coordination between hardware and software vendors to ensure comprehensive coverage of all affected implementations while maintaining system compatibility and performance standards.