CVE-2025-23162 is a vulnerability identified in the Linux kernel's Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) subsystem, specifically within the Intel Xe graphics driver (xe) handling of virtual functions (VFs) in a Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) environment. The vulnerability arises because VFs, which are lightweight virtualized instances of a physical GPU, do not have access to the GDRST register (0x941c) used by the driver to perform a full Graphics Technology (GT) reset. When a VF attempts to trigger a full GT reset—either manually via debugfs by writing to /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0000:00:02.1/gt0/force_reset or automatically due to a detected hang condition—the driver tries to write to this inaccessible register. This results in an invalid operation warning and a kernel warning/error, as the VF is not permitted to write to this register. The root cause is improper handling of reset requests from VFs, which leads to attempts to perform unauthorized register writes, causing kernel warnings and potentially destabilizing the system. The fix implemented involves changing the reset mechanism for VFs to send a Host-to-GPU (H2G) VF_RESET action (0x5507) instead of attempting a direct register write, thereby preventing the invalid access and associated kernel warnings or crashes. This vulnerability affects Linux kernel versions containing the specified commit hashes and is relevant for systems using Intel Xe graphics with SR-IOV enabled, particularly where VFs are utilized. There are no known exploits in the wild at the time of publication, and no CVSS score has been assigned yet.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-23162 depends largely on their deployment of Linux systems with Intel Xe graphics hardware configured with SR-IOV and virtual functions enabled. The vulnerability can lead to kernel warnings and potentially system instability or crashes when a VF attempts to trigger a GT reset improperly. This could affect the availability of GPU-accelerated workloads, particularly in virtualized environments such as cloud infrastructure, data centers, or high-performance computing clusters that rely on GPU virtualization for multi-tenant usage. Disruptions could impact critical services that depend on GPU processing, including AI/ML workloads, graphics rendering, or scientific computations. Although the vulnerability does not appear to allow privilege escalation or direct code execution, the resulting kernel warnings and potential crashes could cause denial of service conditions. For organizations using these configurations, this could translate into downtime, degraded performance, or increased operational costs due to troubleshooting and remediation efforts. Given the lack of known exploits, the immediate risk is moderate, but unpatched systems remain vulnerable to accidental or malicious triggering of the issue.

To mitigate CVE-2025-23162, European organizations should: 1) Apply the Linux kernel patch that implements the fix by replacing direct register writes with the H2G VF_RESET action for VFs. This requires updating to a kernel version that includes the fix or backporting the patch if using long-term support kernels. 2) Audit and monitor systems using Intel Xe GPUs with SR-IOV enabled to identify virtual functions that might trigger GT resets. 3) Restrict access to debugfs interfaces such as /sys/kernel/debug/dri/*/gt0/force_reset to trusted administrators only, minimizing the risk of accidental or unauthorized reset attempts. 4) Implement robust monitoring and alerting for kernel warnings related to DRM and GPU resets to detect attempts to exploit or inadvertently trigger the vulnerability. 5) For environments where GPU virtualization is not required, consider disabling SR-IOV or VF functionality to reduce the attack surface. 6) Coordinate with hardware and software vendors to ensure compatibility and timely updates for GPU drivers and kernel modules. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on the specific driver and virtualization features involved in this vulnerability.