CVE-2025-23161: Linux kernel · PCI: vmd: Make vmd_dev::cfg_lock a raw_spinlock_t type
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.
Data as of 4 Nov 2026, 18:12 UTC
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 1 May 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 4 Nov 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
A fix is available that changes the vmd_dev::cfg_lock to a raw_spinlock_t type. Users should apply the official Linux kernel patch that addresses this issue. Since this is a kernel-level fix, upgrading to a patched kernel version is the recommended mitigation.
Description
CVE-2025-23161 addresses a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's PCI subsystem where the vmd_dev::cfg_lock was incorrectly typed as a sleeping spinlock (spinlock_t) instead of a raw spinlock (raw_spinlock_t). This caused a bug when the lock was acquired with interrupts disabled in a PREEMPT_RT context, leading to a sleeping function being called from an invalid context and potentially causing a kernel crash or denial of service.
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-23161 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/13e5148f70e81991acbe0bab5b1b50ba699116e7 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/18056a48669a040bef491e63b25896561ee14d90 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/20d0a9062c031068fa39f725a32f182b709b5525 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/2358046ead696ca5c7c628d6c0e2c6792619a3e5 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/5c3cfcf0b4bf43530788b08a8eaf7896ec567484 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c250262d6485ca333e9821f85b07eb383ec546b1 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2968c812339593ac6e2bdd5cc3adabe3f05fa53 (opens in a new tab)
- lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html (opens in a new tab)