In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
usb: xhci: tegra: fix sleep in atomic call
When we set the dual-role port to Host mode, we observed the following splat: [ 167.057718] BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at include/linux/sched/mm.h:229 [ 167.057872] Workqueue: events tegra_xusb_usb_phy_work [ 167.057954] Call trace: [ 167.057962] dump_backtrace+0x0/0x210 [ 167.057996] show_stack+0x30/0x50 [ 167.058020] dump_stack_lvl+0x64/0x84 [ 167.058065] dump_stack+0x14/0x34 [ 167.058100] __might_resched+0x144/0x180 [ 167.058140] __might_sleep+0x64/0xd0 [ 167.058171] slab_pre_alloc_hook.constprop.0+0xa8/0x110 [ 167.058202] __kmalloc_track_caller+0x74/0x2b0 [ 167.058233] kvasprintf+0xa4/0x190 [ 167.058261] kasprintf+0x58/0x90 [ 167.058285] tegra_xusb_find_port_node.isra.0+0x58/0xd0 [ 167.058334] tegra_xusb_find_port+0x38/0xa0 [ 167.058380] tegra_xusb_padctl_get_usb3_companion+0x38/0xd0 [ 167.058430] tegra_xhci_id_notify+0x8c/0x1e0 [ 167.058473] notifier_call_chain+0x88/0x100 [ 167.058506] atomic_notifier_call_chain+0x44/0x70 [ 167.058537] tegra_xusb_usb_phy_work+0x60/0xd0 [ 167.058581] process_one_work+0x1dc/0x4c0 [ 167.058618] worker_thread+0x54/0x410 [ 167.058650] kthread+0x188/0x1b0 [ 167.058672] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
The function tegra_xusb_padctl_get_usb3_companion eventually calls tegra_xusb_find_port and this in turn calls kasprintf which might sleep and so cannot be called from an atomic context.
Fix this by moving the call to tegra_xusb_padctl_get_usb3_companion to the tegra_xhci_id_work function where it is really needed.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.7 | 5.10.178 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.11 | 5.15.107 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.16 | 6.1.24 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.2 | 6.2.11 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.3-rc1 | 6.3-rc1.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.3-rc2 | 6.3-rc2.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.3-rc3 | 6.3-rc3.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.3-rc4 | 6.3-rc4.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.3-rc5 | 6.3-rc5.x |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
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Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
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