CVE-2025-71140: media: mediatek: vcodec: Use spinlock for context list protection lock
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: mediatek: vcodec: Use spinlock for context list protection lock
Previously a mutex was added to protect the encoder and decoder context lists from unexpected changes originating from the SCP IP block, causing the context pointer to go invalid, resulting in a NULL pointer dereference in the IPI handler.
Turns out on the MT8173, the VPU IPI handler is called from hard IRQ context. This causes a big warning from the scheduler. This was first reported downstream on the ChromeOS kernels, but is also reproducible on mainline using Fluster with the FFmpeg v4l2m2m decoders. Even though the actual capture format is not supported, the affected code paths are triggered.
Since this lock just protects the context list and operations on it are very fast, it should be OK to switch to a spinlock.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
debian/linuxto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 6.1.176-1Fixed in 6.1.190-1Fixed in 6.12.107-1Fixed in 6.12.113-1Fixed in 7.2.12-1Fixed in 7.2.13-1
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2025-71140?
CVE-2025-71140 is rated as a medium severity vulnerability due to its potential impact on the context list protection mechanism in the Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-71140?
To fix CVE-2025-71140, update your Linux kernel to the latest version where the vulnerability has been addressed.
What type of vulnerability is CVE-2025-71140?
CVE-2025-71140 is a vulnerability related to improper use of locking mechanisms in the MediaTek vcodec component of the Linux kernel.
Who is affected by CVE-2025-71140?
Users of the Linux kernel employing MediaTek vcodec functionalities may be affected by CVE-2025-71140.
What impact does CVE-2025-71140 have on Linux systems?
The impact of CVE-2025-71140 could potentially lead to data corruption or crashes due to improper locking of encoder and decoder context lists.