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High · 7.3 CVE-2025-38508 EUVD-2025-25090GHSA-p2wm-x2jh-86vj

x86/sev: Use TSC_FACTOR for Secure TSC frequency calculation

Published Aug 16, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-intel Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

x86/sev: Use TSC_FACTOR for Secure TSC frequency calculation

When using Secure TSC, the GUEST_TSC_FREQ MSR reports a frequency based on
the nominal P0 frequency, which deviates slightly (typically ~0.2%) from
the actual mean TSC frequency due to clocking parameters.

Over extended VM uptime, this discrepancy accumulates, causing clock skew
between the hypervisor and a SEV-SNP VM, leading to early timer interrupts as
perceived by the guest.

The guest kernel relies on the reported nominal frequency for TSC-based
timekeeping, while the actual frequency set during SNP_LAUNCH_START may
differ. This mismatch results in inaccurate time calculations, causing the
guest to perceive hrtimers as firing earlier than expected.

Utilize the TSC_FACTOR from the SEV firmware's secrets page (see "Secrets
Page Format" in the SNP Firmware ABI Specification) to calculate the mean
TSC frequency, ensuring accurate timekeeping and mitigating clock skew in
SEV-SNP VMs.

Use early_ioremap_encrypted() to map the secrets page as
ioremap_encrypted() uses kmalloc() which is not available during early TSC
initialization and causes a panic.

[ bp: Drop the silly dummy var:
https://lore.kernel.org/r/20250630192726.GBaGLlHl84xIopx4Pt@fat_crate.local ]

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.14 6.15.7

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 25.10 linux-azure-fde No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-6.14 +2 6.14.0-1017.17~24.04.1 USN-7934-1, USN-7879-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.14 6.14.0-1020.21~24.04.1 USN-7879-4
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.14 6.14.0-36.36~24.04.1 USN-7879-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-intel +10 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oem-6.14 6.14.0-1016.16 USN-7880-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-6.14 6.14.0-36.36.1~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 6.14.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-7879-2
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-64kb +7 6.12.0-160000.6.1 SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLES for SAP 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-64kb +7 6.12.0-160000.6.1 SUSE-SU-2025:21179-1, SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLES 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 SUSE-SU-2025:21139-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 SUSE-SU-2025:21074-1
SLE Micro 6.2 kernel-rt +5 6.12.0-160000.6.1 SUSE-SU-2026:20560-1, SUSE-SU-2025:21074-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-default-base 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 openSUSE-SU-2025:20081-1
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-rt +10 6.12.0-160000.6.1 openSUSE-SU-2025:20081-1

Advisories 12

References