CVE-2025-21695

platform/x86: dell-uart-backlight: fix serdev race

Medium · published February 12, 2025

CVSS v3.1
4.7
EPSS
0%
Percentile
7.0
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

platform/x86: dell-uart-backlight: fix serdev race

The dell_uart_bl_serdev_probe() function calls devm_serdev_device_open()

before setting the client ops via serdev_device_set_client_ops(). This

ordering can trigger a NULL pointer dereference in the serdev controller's

receive_buf handler, as it assumes serdev->ops is valid when

SERPORT_ACTIVE is set.

This is similar to the issue fixed in commit 5e700b384ec1

("platform/chrome: cros_ec_uart: properly fix race condition") where

devm_serdev_device_open() was called before fully initializing the

device.

Fix the race by ensuring client ops are set before enabling the port via

devm_serdev_device_open().

Note, serdev_device_set_baudrate() and serdev_device_set_flow_control()

calls should be after the devm_serdev_device_open() call.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
4.7 · MEDIUM
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00178 · 7.0th percentile
Published
2025-02-12T13:27Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 12 FEB 13:27Z
    platform/x86: dell-uart-backlight: fix serdev race
    cvelistv5