7.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVE-2025-38535
phy: tegra: xusb: Fix unbalanced regulator disable in UTMI PHY mode
Description

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.

INFO

Published Date :

Aug. 16, 2025, 12:15 p.m.

Last Modified :

Jan. 7, 2026, 6:56 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

No

Source :

416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2025-38535 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Linux linux_kernel
1 Debian debian_linux
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 HIGH [email protected]
Solution
Correctly manage regulator enable/disable operations in the Linux kernel's Tegra XUSB driver.
  • Update the Linux kernel to the corrected version.
  • Ensure regulator control logic is correctly placed.
  • Verify regulator operations balance with host mode transitions.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2025-38535 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2025-38535 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2025-38535 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2025-38535 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • Initial Analysis by [email protected]

    Jan. 07, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE NVD-CWE-noinfo
    Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 5.11 up to (excluding) 5.15.190 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.13 up to (excluding) 6.15.8 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.7 up to (excluding) 6.12.40 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.16:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 5.16 up to (excluding) 6.1.147 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.2 up to (excluding) 6.6.100 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 5.7 up to (excluding) 5.10.241
    Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1bb85b5c2bd43b687c3d54eb6328917f90dd38fc Types: Patch
    Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5367cdeb75cb6c687ca468450bceb2602ab239d8 Types: Patch
    Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cdcb0ffd6448f6be898956913a42bd08e59fb2ae Types: Patch
    Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ceb645ac6ce052609ee5c8f819a80e8881789b04 Types: Patch
    Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cefc1caee9dd06c69e2d807edc5949b329f52b22 Types: Patch
    Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eaa420339658615d26c1cc95cd6cf720b9aebfca Types: Patch
    Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ec7f98ff05f0649af0adeb4808c7ba23d6111ef9 Types: Patch
    Added Reference Type CVE: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
    Added Reference Type CVE: https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
  • CVE Modified by af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

    Nov. 03, 2025

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html
    Added Reference https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html
  • CVE Modified by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    Aug. 28, 2025

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cdcb0ffd6448f6be898956913a42bd08e59fb2ae
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ceb645ac6ce052609ee5c8f819a80e8881789b04
  • New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    Aug. 16, 2025

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description 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.
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1bb85b5c2bd43b687c3d54eb6328917f90dd38fc
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5367cdeb75cb6c687ca468450bceb2602ab239d8
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cefc1caee9dd06c69e2d807edc5949b329f52b22
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eaa420339658615d26c1cc95cd6cf720b9aebfca
    Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ec7f98ff05f0649af0adeb4808c7ba23d6111ef9
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.
Vulnerability Scoring Details
Base CVSS Score: 7.8
Attack Vector
Attack Complexity
Privileges Required
User Interaction
Scope
Confidentiality Impact
Integrity Impact
Availability Impact