CVE-2025-37831: 
Linux Kernel vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2025-37831 is a vulnerability discovered in the Linux kernel's cpufreq subsystem, specifically affecting the apple-soc driver. The vulnerability was disclosed on May 8, 2025, and impacts the CPU frequency scaling functionality for Apple Silicon processors (NVD, Wiz).

The vulnerability stems from a null pointer dereference in the apple_soc_cpufreq_get_rate() function. The issue occurs when cpufreq_cpu_get_raw() returns NULL in cases where the target CPU is not present in the policy->cpus mask. The apple_soc_cpufreq_get_rate() function fails to properly check for this NULL return value before attempting to dereference the pointer (Wiz, NVD).

If successfully exploited, this vulnerability could result in a denial of service condition through a kernel crash when attempting to read CPU frequency information for non-existent CPU cores on Apple Silicon-based systems (Wiz).

The vulnerability has been resolved in the Linux kernel through a patch that implements proper NULL pointer checking in the apple_soc_cpufreq_get_rate() function. Fixed versions are available in various Linux distributions, including Debian Bookworm (6.12.27-1) and Bullseye (Debian, Wiz).