Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

iommu/vt-d: Restore context entry setup order for aliased devices

Commit 2031c469f816 ("iommu/vt-d: Add support for static identity domain")
changed the context entry setup during domain attachment from a
set-and-check policy to a clear-and-reset approach. This inadvertently
introduced a regression affecting PCI aliased devices behind PCIe-to-PCI
bridges.

Specifically, keyboard and touchpad stopped working on several Apple
Macbooks with below messages:

kernel: platform pxa2xx-spi.3: Adding to iommu group 20
kernel: input: Apple SPI Keyboard as
/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1e.3/pxa2xx-spi.3/spi_master/spi2/spi-APP000D:00/input/input0
kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3
kernel: DMAR: [DMA Read NO_PASID] Request device [00:1e.3] fault addr
0xffffa000 [fault reason 0x06] PTE Read access is not set
kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3
kernel: DMAR: [DMA Read NO_PASID] Request device [00:1e.3] fault addr
0xffffa000 [fault reason 0x06] PTE Read access is not set
kernel: applespi spi-APP000D:00: Error writing to device: 01 0e 00 00
kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3
kernel: DMAR: [DMA Read NO_PASID] Request device [00:1e.3] fault addr
0xffffa000 [fault reason 0x06] PTE Read access is not set
kernel: DMAR: DRHD: handling fault status reg 3
kernel: applespi spi-APP000D:00: Error writing to device: 01 0e 00 00

Fix this by restoring the previous context setup order.

Classification

CVE ID: CVE-2025-38216

Affected Products

Vendor: Linux

Product: Linux

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

EPSS Score: 0.02% (probability of being exploited)

EPSS Percentile: 4.17% (scored less or equal to compared to others)

EPSS Date: 2025-07-10 (when was this score calculated)

References

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38216
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fb5873b779dd5858123c19bbd6959566771e2e83
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d43c81b691813e16a2d08208ce8947aebdab83cd
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/320302baed05c6456164652541f23d2a96522c06

Timeline