CVE-2025-38170

CVE-2025-38170 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.

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Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64/fpsimd: Discard stale...

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

arm64/fpsimd: Discard stale CPU state when handling SME traps

The logic for handling SME traps manipulates saved FPSIMD/SVE/SME state
incorrectly, and a race with preemption can result in a task having
TIF_SME set and TIF_FOREIGN_FPSTATE clear even though the live CPU state
is stale (e.g. with SME traps enabled). This can result in warnings from
do_sme_acc() where SME traps are not expected while TIF_SME is set:

| /* With TIF_SME userspace shouldn't generate any traps */
| if (test_and_set_thread_flag(TIF_SME))
| WARN_ON(1);

This is very similar to the SVE issue we fixed in commit:

751ecf6afd6568ad ("arm64/sve: Discard stale CPU state when handling SVE traps")

The race can occur when the SME trap handler is preempted before and
after manipulating the saved FPSIMD/SVE/SME state, starting and ending on
the same CPU, e.g.

| void do_sme_acc(unsigned long esr, struct pt_regs regs)
| {
| // Trap on CPU 0 with TIF_SME clear, SME traps enabled
| // task->fpsimd_cpu is 0.
| // per_cpu_ptr(&fpsimd_last_state, 0) is task.
|
| ...
|
| // Preempted; migrated from CPU 0 to CPU 1.
| // TIF_FOREIGN_FPSTATE is set.
|
| get_cpu_fpsimd_context();
|
| /
With TIF_SME userspace shouldn't generate any traps */
| if (test_and_set_thread_flag(TIF_SME))
| WARN_ON(1);
|
| if (!test_thread_flag(TIF_FOREIGN_FPSTATE)) {
| unsigned long vq_minus_one =
| sve_vq_from_vl(task_get_sme_vl(current)) - 1;
| sme_set_vq(vq_minus_one);
|
| fpsimd_bind_task_to_cpu();
| }
|
| put_cpu_fpsimd_context();
|
| // Preempted; migrated from CPU 1 to CPU 0.
| // task->fpsimd_cpu is still 0
| // If per_cpu_ptr(&fpsimd_last_state, 0) is still task then:
| // - Stale HW state is reused (with SME traps enabled)
| // - TIF_FOREIGN_FPSTATE is cleared
| // - A return to userspace skips HW state restore
| }

Fix the case where the state is not live and TIF_FOREIGN_FPSTATE is set
by calling fpsimd_flush_task_state() to detach from the saved CPU
state. This ensures that a subsequent context switch will not reuse the
stale CPU state, and will instead set TIF_FOREIGN_FPSTATE, forcing the
new state to be reloaded from memory prior to a return to userspace.

Note: this was originallly posted as [1].

[ Rutland: rewrite commit message ]

Impact

CVE-2025-38170 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.

Affected versions

Not available

Security releases

Not available

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

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Remediation advice

Not available

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is CVE-2025-38170? CVE-2025-38170 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
  2. How severe is CVE-2025-38170? CVE-2025-38170 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
  3. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-38170? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-38170 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
  4. Is CVE-2025-38170 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-38170 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
  5. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-38170 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.

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