In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64/fpsimd: Avoid clobbering kernel FPSIMD state with SMSTOP On system with SME, a thread's kernel FPSIMD state may be erroneously clobbered during a context switch immediately after that state is restored. Systems without SME are unaffected. If the CPU happens to be in streaming SVE mode before a context switch to a thread with kernel FPSIMD state, fpsimd_thread_switch() will restore the kernel FPSIMD state using fpsimd_load_kernel_state() while the CPU is still in streaming SVE mode. When fpsimd_thread_switch() subsequently calls fpsimd_flush_cpu_state(), this will execute an SMSTOP, causing an exit from streaming SVE mode. The exit from streaming SVE mode will cause the hardware to reset a number of FPSIMD/SVE/SME registers, clobbering the FPSIMD state. Fix this by calling fpsimd_flush_cpu_state() before restoring the kernel FPSIMD state.
History

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 12:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate


Thu, 03 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64/fpsimd: Avoid clobbering kernel FPSIMD state with SMSTOP On system with SME, a thread's kernel FPSIMD state may be erroneously clobbered during a context switch immediately after that state is restored. Systems without SME are unaffected. If the CPU happens to be in streaming SVE mode before a context switch to a thread with kernel FPSIMD state, fpsimd_thread_switch() will restore the kernel FPSIMD state using fpsimd_load_kernel_state() while the CPU is still in streaming SVE mode. When fpsimd_thread_switch() subsequently calls fpsimd_flush_cpu_state(), this will execute an SMSTOP, causing an exit from streaming SVE mode. The exit from streaming SVE mode will cause the hardware to reset a number of FPSIMD/SVE/SME registers, clobbering the FPSIMD state. Fix this by calling fpsimd_flush_cpu_state() before restoring the kernel FPSIMD state.
Title arm64/fpsimd: Avoid clobbering kernel FPSIMD state with SMSTOP
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published: 2025-07-03T08:36:08.393Z

Updated: 2025-07-28T04:14:09.744Z

Reserved: 2025-04-16T04:51:23.991Z

Link: CVE-2025-38169

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-07-03T09:15:32.517

Modified: 2025-07-03T15:13:53.147

Link: CVE-2025-38169

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2025-07-03T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2025-38169 - Bugzilla