Linux Kernel up to 6.17.5 mellanox sysfs_attr_init initialization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.5. Affected is the function sysfs_attr_init of the component mellanox. Such manipulation leads to initialization. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-40352. There is no exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.5. Affected by this issue is the function sysfs_attr_init of the component mellanox. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a initialization vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-665. The product does not initialize or incorrectly initializes a resource, which might leave the resource in an unexpected state when it is accessed or used. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: platform/mellanox: mlxbf-pmc: add sysfs_attr_init() to count_clock init The lock-related debug logic (CONFIG_LOCK_STAT) in the kernel is noting the following warning when the BlueField-3 SOC is booted: BUG: key ffff00008a3402a8 has not been registered! ------------[ cut here ]------------ DEBUG_LOCKS_WARN_ON(1) WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 592 at kernel/locking/lockdep.c:4801 lockdep_init_map_type+0x1d4/0x2a0 <snip> Call trace: lockdep_init_map_type+0x1d4/0x2a0 __kernfs_create_file+0x84/0x140 sysfs_add_file_mode_ns+0xcc/0x1cc internal_create_group+0x110/0x3d4 internal_create_groups.part.0+0x54/0xcc sysfs_create_groups+0x24/0x40 device_add+0x6e8/0x93c device_register+0x28/0x40 __hwmon_device_register+0x4b0/0x8a0 devm_hwmon_device_register_with_groups+0x7c/0xe0 mlxbf_pmc_probe+0x1e8/0x3e0 [mlxbf_pmc] platform_probe+0x70/0x110 The mlxbf_pmc driver must call sysfs_attr_init() during the initialization of the "count_clock" data structure to avoid this warning.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-40352 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation is known to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 279020 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-40352), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.17.6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 46be1f5aae82b4136f676528ff091629697c7719/a7b4747d8e0e7871c3d4971cded1dcc9af6af9e9 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 (279020) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2868). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• IBM DataPower Gateway
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Siemens SIMATIC S7

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2
• 6.17.3
• 6.17.4
• 6.17.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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