CVE-2025-38369: dmaengine: idxd: Check availability of workqueue allocated by idxd wq driver before using

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-07-25 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-416

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: idxd: Check availability of workqueue allocated by idxd wq driver before using Running IDXD workloads in a container with the /dev directory mounted can trigger a call trace or even a kernel panic when the parent process of the container is terminated. This issue occurs because, under certain configurations, Docker does not properly propagate the mount replica back to the original mount point. In this case, when the user driver detaches, the WQ is destroyed but it still calls destroy_workqueue() attempting to completes all pending work. It's necessary to check wq->wq and skip the drain if it no longer exists.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.6 before 6.6.96; from 6.7 before 6.12.36; from 6.13 before 6.15.5 — fixed in 6.12.36, 6.15.5, 6.6.96

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.12.36, 6.15.5, 6.6.96. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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