Linux Kernel up to 6.12.23/6.13.11/6.14.2 PCI pci_lock_rescan_remove deadlock

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.23/6.13.11/6.14.2. This affects the function pci_lock_rescan_remove of the component PCI. Executing a manipulation can lead to deadlock. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2025-37843. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.23/6.13.11/6.14.2. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function pci_lock_rescan_remove of the component PCI. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: pciehp: Avoid unnecessary device replacement check Hot-removal of nested PCI hotplug ports suffers from a long-standing race condition which can lead to a deadlock: A parent hotplug port acquires pci_lock_rescan_remove(), then waits for pciehp to unbind from a child hotplug port. Meanwhile that child hotplug port tries to acquire pci_lock_rescan_remove() as well in order to remove its own children. The deadlock only occurs if the parent acquires pci_lock_rescan_remove() first, not if the child happens to acquire it first. Several workarounds to avoid the issue have been proposed and discarded over the years, e.g.: https://lore.kernel.org/r/4c882e25194ba8282b78fe963fec8faae7cf23eb.1529173804.git.lukas@wunner.de/ A proper fix is being worked on, but needs more time as it is nontrivial and necessarily intrusive. Recent commit 9d573d19547b ("PCI: pciehp: Detect device replacement during system sleep") provokes more frequent occurrence of the deadlock when removing more than one Thunderbolt device during system sleep. The commit sought to detect device replacement, but also triggered on device removal. Differentiating reliably between replacement and removal is impossible because pci_get_dsn() returns 0 both if the device was removed, as well as if it was replaced with one lacking a Device Serial Number. Avoid the more frequent occurrence of the deadlock by checking whether the hotplug port itself was hot-removed. If so, there's no sense in checking whether its child device was replaced. This works because the ->resume_noirq() callback is invoked in top-down order for the entire hierarchy: A parent hotplug port detecting device replacement (or removal) marks all children as removed using pci_dev_set_disconnected() and a child hotplug port can then reliably detect being removed.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-37843 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 240657 (Ubuntu 25.04 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7594-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.24, 6.13.12, 6.14.3 or 6.15-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e4a1d7defbc2d806540720a5adebe24ec3488683/0d0bbd01f7c0ac7d1be9f85aaf2cd0baec34655f/7535d10a2c61baeff493300070cf04d9ddda216b/e3260237aaadc9799107ccb940c6688195c4518d is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (240657) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1114). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.13.0
• 6.13.1
• 6.13.2
• 6.13.3
• 6.13.4
• 6.13.5
• 6.13.6
• 6.13.7
• 6.13.8
• 6.13.9
• 6.13.10
• 6.13.11
• 6.14.0
• 6.14.1
• 6.14.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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