# CVE-2025-39724: serial: 8250: fix panic due to PSLVERR

> A race condition in the Linux kernel 8250 serial driver can cause a system panic when reading an empty buffer under specific hardware configurations.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-66959, AZL-74180, BELL-CVE-2025-39724, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-39724, GHSA-jx3q-xcpc-36h3, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-39724, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-39724, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-39724, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-39724, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-39724, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-39724

## What is CVE-2025-39724?

CVE-2025-39724 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 5 Sep 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:

serial: 8250: fix panic due to PSLVERR

When the PSLVERR_RESP_EN parameter is set to 1, the device generates
an error response if an attempt is made to read an empty RBR (Receive
Buffer Register) while the FIFO is enabled.

In serial8250_do_startup(), calling serial_port_out(port, UART_LCR,
UART_LCR_WLEN8) triggers dw8250_check_lcr(), which invokes
dw8250_force_idle() and serial8250_clear_and_reinit_fifos(). The latter
function enables the FIFO via serial_out(p, UART_FCR, p->fcr).
Execution proceeds to the serial_port_in(port, UART_RX).
This satisfies the PSLVERR trigger condition.

When another CPU (e.g., using printk()) is accessing the UART (UART
is busy), the current CPU fails the check (value & ~UART_LCR_SPAR) ==
(lcr & ~UART_LCR_SPAR) in dw8250_check_lcr(), causing it to enter
dw8250_force_idle().

Put serial_port_out(port, UART_LCR, UART_LCR_WLEN8) under the port->lock
to fix this issue.

Panic backtrace:
[    0.442336] Oops - unknown exception [#1]
[    0.442343] epc : dw8250_serial_in32+0x1e/0x4a
[    0.442351]  ra : serial8250_do_startup+0x2c8/0x88e
...
[    0.442416] console_on_rootfs+0x26/0x70

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-39724?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-39724?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-39724 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39724 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

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- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-39724 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-39724 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 5 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39724 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39724/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39724/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-39724
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-39724
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-39724

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39724/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.