CVE-2025-38632: linux Race Condition

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-38632 is a medium (CVSS 4.7) Race Condition vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.11% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 1.4% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 22-08-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 23-05-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pinmux: fix race causing mux_owner NULL with active mux_usecount commit 5a3e85c3c397 ("pinmux: Use sequential access to access desc->pinmux data") tried to address the issue when two client of the same gpio calls pinctrl_select_state() for the same functionality, was resulting in NULL pointer issue while accessing desc->mux_owner. However, issue was not completely fixed due to the way it was handled and it can still result in the same NULL pointer. The issue occurs due to the following interleaving: cpu0 (process A) cpu1 (process B) pin_request() { pin_free() { mutex_lock() desc->mux_usecount--; //becomes 0 .. mutex_unlock() mutex_lock(desc->mux) desc->mux_usecount++; // becomes 1 desc->mux_owner = owner; mutex_unlock(desc->mux) mutex_lock(desc->mux) desc->mux_owner = NULL; mutex_unlock(desc->mux) This sequence leads to a state where the pin appears to be in use (`mux_usecount == 1`) but has no owner (`mux_owner == NULL`), which can cause NULL pointer on next pin_request on the same pin. Ensure that updates to mux_usecount and mux_owner are performed atomically under the same lock. Only clear mux_owner when mux_usecount reaches zero and no new owner has been assigned.

• CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.
• CWE-476NULL Pointer DereferenceThe product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.