LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2025-22023: usb: xhci: Don't skip on Stopped - Length Invalid

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: xhci: Don't skip on Stopped - Length Invalid Up until commit d56b0b2ab142 ("usb: xhci: ensure skipped isoc TDs are returned when isoc ring is stopped") in v6.11, the driver didn't skip missed isochronous TDs when handling Stoppend and Stopped - Length Invalid events. Instead, it erroneously cleared the skip flag, which would cause the ring to get stuck, as future events won't match the missed TD which is never removed from the queue until it's cancelled. This buggy logic seems to have been in place substantially unchanged since the 3.x series over 10 years ago, which probably speaks first and foremost about relative rarity of this case in normal usage, but by the spec I see no reason why it shouldn't be possible. After d56b0b2ab142, TDs are immediately skipped when handling those Stopped events. This poses a potential problem in case of Stopped - Length Invalid, which occurs either on completed TDs (likely already given back) or Link and No-Op TRBs. Such event won't be recognized as matching any TD (unless it's the rare Link TRB inside a TD) and will result in skipping all pending TDs, giving them back possibly before they are done, risking isoc data loss and maybe UAF by HW. As a compromise, don't skip and don't clear the skip flag on this kind of event. Then the next event will skip missed TDs. A downside of not handling Stopped - Length Invalid on a Link inside a TD is that if the TD is cancelled, its actual length will not be updated to account for TRBs (silently) completed before the TD was stopped. I had no luck producing this sequence of completion events so there is no compelling demonstration of any resulting disaster. It may be a very rare, obscure condition. The sole motivation for this patch is that if such unlikely event does occur, I'd rather risk reporting a cancelled partially done isoc frame as empty than gamble with UAF. This will be fixed more properly by looking at Stopped event's TRB pointer when making skipping decisions, but such rework is unlikely to be backported to v6.12, which will stay around for a few years.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysisunknown

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2025-22023 is a Linux kernel USB xHCI driver flaw in a rare isochronous transfer error path. The source describes possible isochronous data loss and a potential hardware-related use-after-free risk, but also says the triggering sequence was not reproduced. Severity is not scored in the provided sources.

Executive priority

Treat this as a normal kernel maintenance item unless your environment depends heavily on USB xHCI isochronous devices. There is no provided evidence of exploitation or a demonstrated attack path, but kernel updates should still be planned through standard patch cycles.

Technical view

After Linux commit d56b0b2ab142 in v6.11, handling of Stopped - Length Invalid events can skip pending isochronous transfer descriptors that do not match a TD. This may return TDs before completion. The fix avoids both skipping and clearing the skip flag for that event type.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to Linux systems using affected kernel versions with USB xHCI isochronous transfer handling. The source ties the issue to v6.11-era behavior and stable kernel fixes, but does not identify specific distributions, devices, or configurations.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not report active exploitation, and KEV is false. The kernel description calls the condition rare and says the author could not produce the completion-event sequence, leaving practical exploitability unproven from the provided evidence.

Researcher notes

The evidence supports a correctness and safety fix in xHCI event handling, not a proven exploit. The upstream text explicitly notes no compelling demonstration and frames the change as avoiding a possible UAF risk in an unlikely event sequence.

Mitigation direction

  • Update to a vendor kernel containing the listed stable fixes.
  • Track Linux distribution advisories for backported kernel packages.
  • Prioritize systems that expose USB xHCI functionality or rely on USB isochronous devices.
  • Do not assume exploitability without vendor or upstream confirmation.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions on managed endpoints and servers.
  • Check whether kernels include one of the referenced stable commits.
  • Confirm distribution advisories map CVE-2025-22023 to installed kernel packages.
  • Review USB-dependent systems for xHCI and isochronous device usage.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
6

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2025-22023 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
0ADP providers
5Source links

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxd56b0b2ab142940b06eac56dcb3ab1ab88df38a2, d56b0b2ab142940b06eac56dcb3ab1ab88df38a2, d56b0b2ab142940b06eac56dcb3ab1ab88df38a2, d56b0b2ab142940b06eac56dcb3ab1ab88df38a2unaffected
LinuxLinux6.11, 0, 6.12.22, 6.13.10, 6.14.1, 6.15affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.