CVE Intelligence
Medium

CVE-2025-38168 — perf: arm-ni: Unregister PMUs on probe failure

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: arm-ni: Unregister PMUs on probe failure When a resource allocation fails in one clock domain of an NI device, we need to properly roll back all previously registered perf PMUs in other clock domains of the same device. Otherwise, it can lead to kernel panics. Calling arm_ni_init+0x0/0xff8 [arm_ni] @ 2374 arm-ni ARMHCB70:00: Failed to request PMU region 0x1f3c13000 arm-ni ARMHCB70:00: probe with driver arm-ni failed with error -16 list_add corruption: next->prev should be prev (fffffd01e9698a18), but was 0000000000000000. (next=ffff10001a0decc8). pstate: 6340009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : list_add_valid_or_report+0x7c/0xb8 lr : list_add_valid_or_report+0x7c/0xb8 Call trace: __list_add_valid_or_report+0x7c/0xb8 perf_pmu_register+0x22c/0x3a0 arm_ni_probe+0x554/0x70c [arm_ni] platform_probe+0x70/0xe8 really_probe+0xc6/0x4d8 driver_probe_device+0x48/0x170 __driver_attach+0x8e/0x1c0 bus_for_each_dev+0x64/0xf0 driver_add+0x138/0x260 bus_add_driver+0x68/0x138 __platform_driver_register+0x2c/0x40 arm_ni_init+0x14/0x2a [arm_ni] do_init_module+0x36/0x298 ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops - BUG: Fatal exception SMP: stopping secondary CPUs

Published Jul 3, 2025 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.17%
ahead of 6% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
5.5
Medium · 4 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 7.8 provisional

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux, Linux Linux Kernel).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux ≥ 4d5a7680f2b4d0c2955e1d9f9a594b050d637436 and < 7e958e116e3be05a1f869b5a885fc5d674c7725f≥ 4d5a7680f2b4d0c2955e1d9f9a594b050d637436 and < 72caf9886e9c1731cf7bfe3eabc308b9268b21d6≥ 4d5a7680f2b4d0c2955e1d9f9a594b050d637436 and < 7f57afde6a44d9e044885e1125034edd4fda02e8version 6.12 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel ≥ 6.12 and < 6.12.34≥ 6.13 and < 6.15.3 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High 1.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — Linux via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.8 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 7.8 (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · linux/linux kernel
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 5.5
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Jul 3, 2025 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

5 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99999 ipv4: validate checksum_start before completing checksum 19h
  • CVE-2026-98432 ipv4: free inet_opt and ireq_opt after an RCU grace period 19h
  • CVE-2026-98424 wifi: cfg80211: undo netns switch if renaming the wiphy fails 1d
  • CVE-2026-98425 wifi: mac80211: don't warn when an IBSS has no channel to scan 1d
  • CVE-2026-98426 wifi: mwifiex: fix IRQ leak using wrong index in MSI-X error path 1d
  • CVE-2026-98427 net/sched: codel: bound the dropping loop per dequeue call 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No CWE classification.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2025-38168 is "perf: arm-ni: Unregister PMUs on probe failure", rated Medium. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.17% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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