{"id":"CVE-2025-38537","title":"net: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy\n\nIf a PHY has no driver, the genphy driver is probed/removed directly in\nphy_attach/detach. If the PHY's ofnode has an \"leds\" s…","severity":"none","vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","affected":["Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd","Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6","Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < 75e1b2079ef0653a2f7aa69be515d86b7faf1908","Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d","Linux 6.4"],"ssvc":{"exploitation":"none","automatable":"no","technicalImpact":"partial","timestamp":"2026-11-05T21:03:25.479289Z"},"published":"2025-08-16","updated":"2026-11-05","sourceUpdated":"2026-11-05T21:12:45.990Z","source":"CVEORG","sourceUrl":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38537","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75e1b2079ef0653a2f7aa69be515d86b7faf1908"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d"}],"tags":["cve.org"],"epss":0.00164,"epssPercentile":0.05592,"ingestedAt":"2026-11-05T22:38:31.988Z","slug":"CVE-2025-38537","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy\n\nIf a PHY has no driver, the genphy driver is probed/removed directly in\nphy_attach/detach. If the PHY's ofnode has an \"leds\" subnode, then the\nLEDs will be (un)registered when probing/removing the genphy driver.\nThis could occur if the leds are for a non-generic driver that isn't\nloaded for whatever reason. Synchronously removing the PHY device in\nphy_detach leads to the following deadlock:\n\nrtnl_lock()\nndo_close()\n    ...\n    phy_detach()\n        phy_remove()\n            phy_leds_unregister()\n                led_classdev_unregister()\n                    led_trigger_set()\n                        netdev_trigger_deactivate()\n                            unregister_netdevice_notifier()\n                                rtnl_lock()\n\nThere is a corresponding deadlock on the open/register side of things\n(and that one is reported by lockdep), but it requires a race while this\none is deterministic.\n\nGeneric PHYs do not support LEDs anyway, so don't bother registering\nthem.\n\n## Affected\n\n- `Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd`\n- `Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6`\n- `Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < 75e1b2079ef0653a2f7aa69be515d86b7faf1908`\n- `Linux >= 01e5b728e9e43ae444e0369695a5f72209906464 < f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d`\n- `Linux 6.4`\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":3,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":2.8,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}