CVE-2025-22013: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: Unconditionally save+flush host FPSIMD/SVE/SME state There are sever...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: Unconditionally save+flush host FPSIMD/SVE/SME state There are several problems with the way hyp code lazily saves the host's FPSIMD/SVE state, including: * Host SVE being discarded unexpectedly due to inconsistent configuration of TIF_SVE and CPACR_ELx.ZEN. This has been seen to result in QEMU crashes where SVE is used by memmove(), as reported by Eric Auger: https://issues.redhat.com/browse/RHEL-68997 * Host SVE state is discarded *after* modification by ptrace, which was an unintentional ptrace ABI change introduced with lazy discarding of SVE state. * The host FPMR value can be discarded when running a non-protected VM, where FPMR support is not exposed to a VM, and that VM uses FPSIMD/SVE. In these cases the hyp code does not save the host's FPMR before unbinding the host's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state, leaving a stale value in memory. Avoid these by eagerly saving and "flushing" the host's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state when loading a vCPU such that KVM does not need to save any of the host's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state. For clarity, fpsimd_kvm_prepare() is removed and the necessary call to fpsimd_save_and_flush_cpu_state() is placed in kvm_arch_vcpu_load_fp(). As 'fpsimd_state' and 'fpmr_ptr' should not be used, they are set to NULL; all uses of these will be removed in subsequent patches. Historical problems go back at least as far as v5.17, e.g. erroneous assumptions about TIF_SVE being clear in commit: 8383741ab2e773a9 ("KVM: arm64: Get rid of host SVE tracking/saving") ... and so this eager save+flush probably needs to be backported to ALL stable trees.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability

0.16%

5.7th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions	Update
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.2, < 6.6.85	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.7, < 6.12.21	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.13, < 6.13.9	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	6.14	Rc1

References

Timeline

Published: Apr 8, 2025
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-22013?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: Unconditionally save+flush host FPSIMD/SVE/SME state There are several problems with the way hyp code lazily saves the host's FPSIMD/SVE state, including: * Host SVE being discarded unexpectedly due to inconsistent configuration of TIF_SVE and CPACR_ELx.ZEN. This has been seen to result in QEMU crashes where SVE is used by memmove(), as reported by Eric Auger: https://issues.redhat.com/browse/RHEL-68997 * Host SVE state is discarded *after* modification by ptrace, which was an unintentional ptrace ABI change introduced with lazy discarding of SVE state. * The host FPMR value can be discarded when running a non-protected VM, where FPMR support is not exposed to a VM, and that VM uses FPSIMD/SVE. In these cases the hyp code does not save the host's FPMR before unbinding the host's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state, leaving a stale value in memory. Avoid these by eagerly saving and "flushing" the host's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state when loading a vCPU such that KVM does not need to save any of the host's FPSIMD/SVE/SME state. For clarity, fpsimd_kvm_prepare() is removed and the necessary call to fpsimd_save_and_flush_cpu_state() is placed in kvm_arch_vcpu_load_fp(). As 'fpsimd_state' and 'fpmr_ptr' should not be used, they are set to NULL; all uses of these will be removed in subsequent patches. Historical problems go back at least as far as v5.17, e.g. erroneous assumptions about TIF_SVE being clear in commit: 8383741ab2e773a9 ("KVM: arm64: Get rid of host SVE tracking/saving") ... and so this eager save+flush probably needs to be backported to ALL stable trees.

How severe is CVE-2025-22013?

CVE-2025-22013 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.16% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2025-22013?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.