# CVE-2025-38720: net: hibmcge: fix rtnl deadlock issue

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-09-04 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.14

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: hibmcge: fix rtnl deadlock issue Currently, the hibmcge netdev acquires the rtnl_lock in pci_error_handlers.reset_prepare() and releases it in pci_error_handlers.reset_done(). However, in the PCI framework: pci_reset_bus - __pci_reset_slot - pci_slot_save_and_disable_locked - pci_dev_save_and_disable - err_handler->reset_prepare(dev); In pci_slot_save_and_disable_locked(): list_for_each_entry(dev, &slot->bus->devices, bus_list) { if (!dev->slot || dev->slot!= slot) continue; pci_dev_save_and_disable(dev); if (dev->subordinate) pci_bus_save_and_disable_locked(dev->subordinate); } This will iterate through all devices under the current bus and execute err_handler->reset_prepare(), causing two devices of the hibmcge driver to sequentially request the rtnl_lock, leading to a deadlock. Since the driver now executes netif_device_detach() before the reset process, it will not concurrently with other netdev APIs, so there is no need to hold the rtnl_lock now. Therefore, this patch removes the rtnl_lock during the reset process and adjusts the position of HBG_NIC_STATE_RESETTING to ensure that multiple resets are not executed concurrently.

## 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.
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## 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/d85a6346fd6f595c4914205762d0cdf35c004a5e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1343a8994ca7dba78f5dd818e89d68331c21c35d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c875503a9b9082928d7d3fc60b5400d16fbfae4e

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-38720
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2025-38720
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