CVE-2025-38038 cpufreq: amd-pstate: Remove unnecessary driver_lock in set_boost
A race condition in the AMD P-State driver can cause a deadlock, leading to a denial of service on Linux systems.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-38038?
CVE-2025-38038 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Jun 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
cpufreq: amd-pstate: Remove unnecessary driver_lock in set_boost
set_boost is a per-policy function call, hence a driver wide lock is unnecessary. Also this mutex_acquire can collide with the mutex_acquire from the mode-switch path in status_store(), which can lead to a deadlock. So, remove it.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-38038?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-38038?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-38038 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-38038 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-38038, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-38038, GHSA-7ghp-fwfc-32f2, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-38038, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-38038, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-38038 and 1 more.