Race Condition Vulnerability in Linux Kernel Affects Dell Products

CVE-2025-21695

Summary

A race condition vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel impacting Dell devices due to improper ordering in the dell_uart_bl_serdev_probe() function. This flaw occurs when devm_serdev_device_open() is invoked prior to setting the client operations, leading to a potential NULL pointer dereference in the serdev controller's receive_buf handler. The kernel assumes that the client operations are valid when the SERPORT_ACTIVE state is activated. To mitigate this issue, it is crucial to sequence these operations correctly, ensuring that the client ops are established before opening the device, thereby preventing any unintended behavior or system instability.

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