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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published Apr 16, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Apr 29, 2025

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

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

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Apr 16, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Apr 16, 2025
Last updated Apr 29, 2025

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(7th percentile)

Weaknesses

NULL Pointer Dereference

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2025-22031

GHSA ID

GHSA-2788-7prj-r2qv

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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