VulnerabilityPublished 20 May 2025Updated 18 Nov 2025

CVE-2025-37895: Linux kernel · bnxt_en: Fix error handling path in bnxt_init_chip()

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Authoritative record:CVE-2025-37895· Low

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Low.

Data as of 13 Nov 2026, 19:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.5Low

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 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 13 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-grfj-5cgf-q45r

What to do

AI-suggested

A fix for this vulnerability is available as it has been resolved in the Linux kernel source. Users and administrators should update to the fixed kernel version containing the patch for CVE-2025-37895. No additional mitigation is required beyond applying the official fix.

Description

CVE-2025-37895 is a medium severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel's bnxt_en driver. The issue arises from improper error handling in the bnxt_init_chip() function, where a WARN_ON() is triggered due to cancel_work_sync() being called on uninitialized dim work. This occurs because the BNXT_STATE_NAPI_DISABLED bit is not set during initialization, causing the error path to incorrectly attempt to cancel dim work that was never started. The fix involves setting this bit during initialization to prevent the erroneous cancellation.

Impact

The vulnerability causes a kernel warning (WARN_ON) and may lead to instability or denial of service (system crash or hang) due to improper handling of workqueue cancellation on uninitialized work. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity. The CVSS score of 5.5 reflects a medium severity with local attack vector, low complexity, and no user interaction required.

Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel's bnxt_en driver involves an error handling flaw in the bnxt_init_chip() function. When bnxt_init_chip() fails, the driver calls cancel_work_sync() on dim work that has not been initialized, triggering a WARN_ON() in __flush_work(). The root cause is that the BNXT_STATE_NAPI_DISABLED bit, which indicates whether dim work has been cancelled, is not set during the bnxt_open() initialization path. This leads the error path to mistakenly cancel uninitalized dim work. The fix sets BNXT_STATE_NAPI_DISABLED during initialization, ensuring the bit is cleared only when NAPI is enabled and dim work is properly initialized.

References

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