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CVE Record

CVE-2025-38104: drm/amdgpu: Replace Mutex with Spinlock for RLCG register access to avoid Priority Inversion in SRIOV

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amdgpu: Replace Mutex with Spinlock for RLCG register access to avoid Priority Inversion in SRIOV RLCG Register Access is a way for virtual functions to safely access GPU registers in a virtualized environment., including TLB flushes and register reads. When multiple threads or VFs try to access the same registers simultaneously, it can lead to race conditions. By using the RLCG interface, the driver can serialize access to the registers. This means that only one thread can access the registers at a time, preventing conflicts and ensuring that operations are performed correctly. Additionally, when a low-priority task holds a mutex that a high-priority task needs, ie., If a thread holding a spinlock tries to acquire a mutex, it can lead to priority inversion. register access in amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw especially in a fast code path is critical. The call stack shows that the function amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw is being called, which attempts to acquire the mutex. This function is invoked from amdgpu_sriov_wreg, which in turn is called from gmc_v11_0_flush_gpu_tlb. The [ BUG: Invalid wait context ] indicates that a thread is trying to acquire a mutex while it is in a context that does not allow it to sleep (like holding a spinlock). Fixes the below: [ 253.013423] ============================= [ 253.013434] [ BUG: Invalid wait context ] [ 253.013446] 6.12.0-amdstaging-drm-next-lol-050225 #14 Tainted: G U OE [ 253.013464] ----------------------------- [ 253.013475] kworker/0:1/10 is trying to lock: [ 253.013487] ffff9f30542e3cf8 (&adev->virt.rlcg_reg_lock){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw+0xf6/0x330 [amdgpu] [ 253.013815] other info that might help us debug this: [ 253.013827] context-{4:4} [ 253.013835] 3 locks held by kworker/0:1/10: [ 253.013847] #0: ffff9f3040050f58 ((wq_completion)events){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x3f5/0x680 [ 253.013877] #1: ffffb789c008be40 ((work_completion)(&wfc.work)){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x1d6/0x680 [ 253.013905] #2: ffff9f3054281838 (&adev->gmc.invalidate_lock){+.+.}-{2:2}, at: gmc_v11_0_flush_gpu_tlb+0x198/0x4f0 [amdgpu] [ 253.014154] stack backtrace: [ 253.014164] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 10 Comm: kworker/0:1 Tainted: G U OE 6.12.0-amdstaging-drm-next-lol-050225 #14 [ 253.014189] Tainted: [U]=USER, [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE [ 253.014203] Hardware name: Microsoft Corporation Virtual Machine/Virtual Machine, BIOS Hyper-V UEFI Release v4.1 11/18/2024 [ 253.014224] Workqueue: events work_for_cpu_fn [ 253.014241] Call Trace: [ 253.014250] <TASK> [ 253.014260] dump_stack_lvl+0x9b/0xf0 [ 253.014275] dump_stack+0x10/0x20 [ 253.014287] __lock_acquire+0xa47/0x2810 [ 253.014303] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [ 253.014321] lock_acquire+0xd1/0x300 [ 253.014333] ? amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw+0xf6/0x330 [amdgpu] [ 253.014562] ? __lock_acquire+0xa6b/0x2810 [ 253.014578] __mutex_lock+0x85/0xe20 [ 253.014591] ? amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw+0xf6/0x330 [amdgpu] [ 253.014782] ? sched_clock_noinstr+0x9/0x10 [ 253.014795] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [ 253.014808] ? local_clock_noinstr+0xe/0xc0 [ 253.014822] ? amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw+0xf6/0x330 [amdgpu] [ 253.015012] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [ 253.015029] mutex_lock_nested+0x1b/0x30 [ 253.015044] ? mutex_lock_nested+0x1b/0x30 [ 253.015057] amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw+0xf6/0x330 [amdgpu] [ 253.015249] amdgpu_sriov_wreg+0xc5/0xd0 [amdgpu] [ 253.015435] gmc_v11_0_flush_gpu_tlb+0x44b/0x4f0 [amdgpu] [ 253.015667] gfx_v11_0_hw_init+0x499/0x29c0 [amdgpu] [ 253.015901] ? __pfx_smu_v13_0_update_pcie_parameters+0x10/0x10 [amdgpu] [ 253.016159] ? srso_alias_return_thunk+0x5/0xfbef5 [ 253.016173] ? smu_hw_init+0x18d/0x300 [amdgpu] [ 253.016403] amdgpu_device_init+0x29ad/0x36a0 [amdgpu] [ 253.016614] amdgpu_driver_load_kms+0x1a/0xc0 [amdgpu] [ 253.0170 ---truncated---

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysisunknown

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This is a Linux kernel AMD GPU virtualization reliability issue. In SR-IOV environments, the amdgpu driver could use a sleeping mutex where sleeping is unsafe, causing priority inversion or invalid wait-context failures. The sources show a kernel fix but no confirmed exploitation or CVSS severity.

Executive priority

Medium operational priority for organizations running AMD GPU virtualization. It is not supported by the sources as an active breach risk, but unresolved kernel driver faults can disrupt shared compute or virtualization services. Patch during the next controlled kernel maintenance window after confirming exposure.

Technical view

CVE-2025-38104 affects amdgpu RLCG register access in SR-IOV paths. amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw could acquire a mutex during fast register/TLB flush operations while another lock was held. The upstream fix replaces that mutex with a spinlock. Impact scope beyond kernel/driver stability is not described in the bundle.

Likely exposure

Likely limited to Linux systems using AMD amdgpu with GPU virtualization or SR-IOV. General Linux servers without AMDGPU SR-IOV exposure are less likely to be affected. The bundle lists affected and fixed kernel versions/commits, but distro-specific package status must be confirmed separately.

Exploitation context

The provided sources do not report active exploitation, public exploit code, or KEV listing. Evidence is a kernel bug report and upstream/stable fixes. Treat this as a reliability and operational-risk issue unless vendor advisories provide stronger impact details.

Researcher notes

The bundle provides no CVSS, CWE, exploitability assessment, or detailed affected range semantics beyond Linux version and commit references. The strongest evidence is the upstream kernel description: mutex use in an unsafe context during SR-IOV RLCG register access, fixed by replacing it with a spinlock.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory Linux hosts using AMDGPU SR-IOV or virtualized GPU workloads.
  • Map running kernel builds to vendor advisories and the listed stable commits.
  • Apply kernel updates containing the referenced amdgpu RLCG locking fix.
  • Prioritize GPU virtualization hosts, shared compute nodes, and reliability-sensitive workloads.
  • If updates are unavailable, monitor vendor guidance for supported mitigations.

Validation and detection

  • Check whether hosts load amdgpu and use SR-IOV GPU virtualization.
  • Confirm kernel package versions include one of the referenced stable fixes.
  • Review kernel logs for invalid wait-context messages involving amdgpu_virt_rlcg_reg_rw.
  • Validate with vendor or distribution CVE trackers before declaring systems remediated.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
8

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

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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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
7Source 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

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Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxf39a3bc42815a7016a915f6cb35e9a1448788f06, 1adb5ebe205e96af77a93512e2d5b8c437548787, e864180ee49b4d30e640fd1e1d852b86411420c9, e864180ee49b4d30e640fd1e1d852b86411420c9, e864180ee49b4d30e640fd1e1d852b86411420c9, e864180ee49b4d30e640fd1e1d852b86411420c9, e1ab38e99d1607f80a1670a399511a56464c0253, 6.1.105, 6.6.46, 6.10.5unaffected
LinuxLinux6.11, 0, 6.1.162, 6.6.123, 6.12.39, 6.13.11, 6.14.2, 6.15affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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