CVE-2025-39804: lib/crypto: arm64/poly1305: Fix register corruption in no-SIMD contexts

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-09-15 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: lib/crypto: arm64/poly1305: Fix register corruption in no-SIMD contexts Restore the SIMD usability check that was removed by commit a59e5468a921 ("crypto: arm64/poly1305 - Add block-only interface"). This safety check is cheap and is well worth eliminating a footgun. While the Poly1305 functions should not be called when SIMD registers are unusable, if they are anyway, they should just do the right thing instead of corrupting random tasks' registers and/or computing incorrect MACs. Fixing this is also needed for poly1305_kunit to pass. Just use may_use_simd() instead of the original crypto_simd_usable(), since poly1305_kunit won't rely on crypto_simd_disabled_for_test.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.16 before 6.16.4 — fixed in 6.16.4

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.16.4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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