CVE-2025-22031

PCI/bwctrl: Fix NULL pointer dereference on bus number exhaustion

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: April 16, 2025 at 02:11 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 08:44 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI/bwctrl: Fix NULL pointer dereference on bus number exhaustion When BIOS neglects to assign bus numbers to PCI bridges, the kernel attempts to correct that during PCI device enumeration. If it runs out of bus numbers, no pci_bus is allocated and the "subordinate" pointer in the bridge's pci_dev remains NULL. The PCIe bandwidth controller erroneously does not check for a NULL subordinate pointer and dereferences it on probe. Bandwidth control of unusable devices below the bridge is of questionable utility, so simply error out instead. This mirrors what PCIe hotplug does since commit 62e4492c3063 ("PCI: Prevent NULL dereference during pciehp probe"). The PCI core emits a message with KERN_INFO severity if it has run out of bus numbers. PCIe hotplug emits an additional message with KERN_ERR severity to inform the user that hotplug functionality is disabled at the bridge. A similar message for bandwidth control does not seem merited, given that its only purpose so far is to expose an up-to-date link speed in sysfs and throttle the link speed on certain laptops with limited Thermal Design Power. So error out silently. User-visible messages: pci 0000:16:02.0: bridge configuration invalid ([bus 00-00]), reconfiguring [...] pci_bus 0000:45: busn_res: [bus 45-74] end is updated to 74 pci 0000:16:02.0: devices behind bridge are unusable because [bus 45-74] cannot be assigned for them [...] pcieport 0000:16:02.0: pciehp: Hotplug bridge without secondary bus, ignoring [...] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference RIP: pcie_update_link_speed pcie_bwnotif_enable pcie_bwnotif_probe pcie_port_probe_service really_probe

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

6.13 ≤ v < 6.13.116.13 ≤ v < 6.14.26.13 ≤ v < 6.156.14 ≤ v < 6.14.26.13665745f274870c921020f610e2c99a3b1613519b
Vendor states this is fixed in 1181924af78e5299ddec6e457789c02dd5966559 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 667f053b05f00a007738cd7ed6fa1901de19dc7e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in d93d309013e89631630a12b1770d27e4be78362a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.13 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.13.11 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.14.2 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.15 (unaffected)

References (3)

Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1181924af78e5299ddec6e457789c02dd5966559
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/667f053b05f00a007738cd7ed6fa1901de19dc7e
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d93d309013e89631630a12b1770d27e4be78362a

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5.5MEDIUMCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-476

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