In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: phylink: add lock for serializing concurrent pl->phydev writes with resolver
Currently phylink_resolve() protects itself against concurrent
phylink_bringup_phy() or phylink_disconnect_phy() calls which modify
pl->phydev by relying on pl->state_mutex.
The problem is that in phylink_resolve(), pl->state_mutex is in a lock
inversion state with pl->phydev->lock. So pl->phydev->lock needs to be
acquired prior to pl->state_mutex. But that requires dereferencing
pl->phydev in the first place, and without pl->state_mutex, that is
racy.
Hence the reason for the extra lock. Currently it is redundant, but it
will serve a functional purpose once mutex_lock(&phy->lock) will be
moved outside of the mutex_lock(&pl->state_mutex) section.
Another alternative considered would have been to let phylink_resolve()
acquire the rtnl_mutex, which is also held when phylink_bringup_phy()
and phylink_disconnect_phy() are called. But since phylink_disconnect_phy()
runs under rtnl_lock(), it would deadlock with phylink_resolve() when
calling flush_work(&pl->resolve). Additionally, it would have been
undesirable because it would have unnecessarily blocked many other call
paths as well in the entire kernel, so the smaller-scoped lock was
preferred.
net: phylink: add lock for serializing concurrent pl->phydev writes with resolver
Currently phylink_resolve() protects itself against concurrent
phylink_bringup_phy() or phylink_disconnect_phy() calls which modify
pl->phydev by relying on pl->state_mutex.
The problem is that in phylink_resolve(), pl->state_mutex is in a lock
inversion state with pl->phydev->lock. So pl->phydev->lock needs to be
acquired prior to pl->state_mutex. But that requires dereferencing
pl->phydev in the first place, and without pl->state_mutex, that is
racy.
Hence the reason for the extra lock. Currently it is redundant, but it
will serve a functional purpose once mutex_lock(&phy->lock) will be
moved outside of the mutex_lock(&pl->state_mutex) section.
Another alternative considered would have been to let phylink_resolve()
acquire the rtnl_mutex, which is also held when phylink_bringup_phy()
and phylink_disconnect_phy() are called. But since phylink_disconnect_phy()
runs under rtnl_lock(), it would deadlock with phylink_resolve() when
calling flush_work(&pl->resolve). Additionally, it would have been
undesirable because it would have unnecessarily blocked many other call
paths as well in the entire kernel, so the smaller-scoped lock was
preferred.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:15:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
---|---|---|
References |
| |
Metrics |
threat_severity
|
cvssV3_1
|
Thu, 02 Oct 2025 09:00:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
---|---|---|
First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
Wed, 01 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
---|---|---|
Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: phylink: add lock for serializing concurrent pl->phydev writes with resolver Currently phylink_resolve() protects itself against concurrent phylink_bringup_phy() or phylink_disconnect_phy() calls which modify pl->phydev by relying on pl->state_mutex. The problem is that in phylink_resolve(), pl->state_mutex is in a lock inversion state with pl->phydev->lock. So pl->phydev->lock needs to be acquired prior to pl->state_mutex. But that requires dereferencing pl->phydev in the first place, and without pl->state_mutex, that is racy. Hence the reason for the extra lock. Currently it is redundant, but it will serve a functional purpose once mutex_lock(&phy->lock) will be moved outside of the mutex_lock(&pl->state_mutex) section. Another alternative considered would have been to let phylink_resolve() acquire the rtnl_mutex, which is also held when phylink_bringup_phy() and phylink_disconnect_phy() are called. But since phylink_disconnect_phy() runs under rtnl_lock(), it would deadlock with phylink_resolve() when calling flush_work(&pl->resolve). Additionally, it would have been undesirable because it would have unnecessarily blocked many other call paths as well in the entire kernel, so the smaller-scoped lock was preferred. | |
Title | net: phylink: add lock for serializing concurrent pl->phydev writes with resolver | |
References |
|

Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2025-10-01T07:44:28.758Z
Reserved: 2025-04-16T07:20:57.146Z
Link: CVE-2025-39905

No data.

Status : Received
Published: 2025-10-01T08:15:33.370
Modified: 2025-10-01T08:15:33.370
Link: CVE-2025-39905


Updated: 2025-10-02T08:40:04Z