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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-38537: Linux kernel · net: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy

Source GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2025-38537· High

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 High · fixed in fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 13 Nov 2026, 18:29 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
5.5High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none
Patch
Available – fixed in fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6, f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d, ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd +1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 16 Aug 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Upgrade Linux kernel to fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6, f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d, ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd or 75e1b2079ef0653a2f7aa69be515d86b7faf1908.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464, < fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6
Fixed in
  • fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464, < f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d
Fixed in
  • f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464, < ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd
Fixed in
  • ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • ≥ 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464, < 75e1b2079ef0653a2f7aa69be515d86b7faf1908
Fixed in
  • 75e1b2079ef0653a2f7aa69be515d86b7faf1908
LinuxLinuxAffected
  • =6.4
Fixed in–

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy If a PHY has no driver, the genphy driver is probed/removed directly in phy_attach/detach. If the PHY's ofnode has an "leds" subnode, then the LEDs will be (un)registered when probing/removing the genphy driver. This could occur if the leds are for a non-generic driver that isn't loaded for whatever reason. Synchronously removing the PHY device in phy_detach leads to the following deadlock: rtnl_lock() ndo_close() ... phy_detach() phy_remove() phy_leds_unregister() led_classdev_unregister() led_trigger_set() netdev_trigger_deactivate() unregister_netdevice_notifier() rtnl_lock() There is a corresponding deadlock on the open/register side of things (and that one is reported by lockdep), but it requires a race while this one is deterministic. Generic PHYs do not support LEDs anyway, so don't bother registering them.

References

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