CVE-2025-37805: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sound/virtio: Fix cancel_sync warnings on uninitialized work_structs Betty reported hitting the following warning: [ 8.709131][ T221] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 221 at kernel/workqueue.c:4182 ... [ 8.713282][ T221] Call trace: [ 8.713365][ T221] __flush_work+0x8d0/0x914 [ 8.713468][ T221] __cancel_work_sync+0xac/0xfc [ 8.713570][ T221] cancel_work_sync+0x24/0x34 [ 8.713667][ T221] virtsnd_remove+0xa8/0xf8 [virtio_snd ab15f34d0dd772f6d11327e08a81d46dc9c36276] [ 8.713868][ T221] virtsnd_probe+0x48c/0x664 [virtio_snd ab15f34d0dd772f6d11327e08a81d46dc9c36276] [ 8.714035][ T221] virtio_dev_probe+0x28c/0x390 [ 8.714139][ T221] really_probe+0x1bc/0x4c8 ... It seems we're hitting the error path in virtsnd_probe(), which triggers a virtsnd_remove() which iterates over the substreams calling cancel_work_sync() on the elapsed_period work_struct. Looking at the code, from earlier in: virtsnd_probe()->virtsnd_build_devs()->virtsnd_pcm_parse_cfg() We set snd->nsubstreams, allocate the snd->substreams, and if we then hit an error on the info allocation or something in virtsnd_ctl_query_info() fails, we will exit without having initialized the elapsed_period work_struct. When that error path unwinds we then call virtsnd_remove() which as long as the substreams array is allocated, will iterate through calling cancel_work_sync() on the uninitialized work struct hitting this warning. Takashi Iwai suggested this fix, which initializes the substreams structure right after allocation, so that if we hit the error paths we avoid trying to cleanup uninitialized data. Note: I have not yet managed to reproduce the issue myself, so this patch has had limited testing. Feedback or thoughts would be appreciated!

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-37805, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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