Linux Kernel up to 6.17.2 ufshcd_pm_qos_exit use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.2. It has been classified as critical. This issue affects the function ufshcd_pm_qos_exit. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2025-40130. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.2. This affects the function ufshcd_pm_qos_exit. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: ufs: core: Fix data race in CPU latency PM QoS request handling The cpu_latency_qos_add/remove/update_request interfaces lack internal synchronization by design, requiring the caller to ensure thread safety. The current implementation relies on the 'pm_qos_enabled' flag, which is insufficient to prevent concurrent access and cannot serve as a proper synchronization mechanism. This has led to data races and list corruption issues. A typical race condition call trace is: [Thread A] ufshcd_pm_qos_exit() --> cpu_latency_qos_remove_request() --> cpu_latency_qos_apply(); --> pm_qos_update_target() --> plist_del <--(1) delete plist node --> memset(req, 0, sizeof(*req)); --> hba->pm_qos_enabled = false; [Thread B] ufshcd_devfreq_target --> ufshcd_devfreq_scale --> ufshcd_scale_clks --> ufshcd_pm_qos_update <--(2) pm_qos_enabled is true --> cpu_latency_qos_update_request --> pm_qos_update_target --> plist_del <--(3) plist node use-after-free Introduces a dedicated mutex to serialize PM QoS operations, preventing data races and ensuring safe access to PM QoS resources, including sysfs interface reads.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-40130 since 04/16/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/08/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 275233 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-40130), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.17.3 or 6.18-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d9df61afb8d23c475f1be3c714da2c34c156ab01/79dde5f7dc7c038eec903745dc1550cd4139980e 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 (275233) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2579). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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