CVE-2025-38535: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: phy: tegra: xusb: Fix unbalanced regulator disable in UTMI PHY mode When transitioning from USB_ROLE_DEVICE to USB_ROLE_NONE, the code assumed that the regulator should be disabled. However, if the regulator is marked as always-on, regulator_is_enabled() continues to return true, leading to an incorrect attempt to disable a regulator which is not enabled. This can result in warnings such as: [ 250.155624] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 7326 at drivers/regulator/core.c:3004 _regulator_disable+0xe4/0x1a0 [ 250.155652] unbalanced disables for VIN_SYS_5V0 To fix this, we move the regulator control logic into tegra186_xusb_padctl_id_override() function since it's directly related to the ID override state. The regulator is now only disabled when the role transitions from USB_ROLE_HOST to USB_ROLE_NONE, by checking the VBUS_ID register. This ensures that regulator enable/disable operations are properly balanced and only occur when actually transitioning to/from host mode.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-38535, a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) 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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