{"id":"CVE-2025-38235","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"HID: appletb-kbd: fix \"appletb_backlight\" backlight device reference counting","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nHID: appletb-kbd: fix \"appletb_backlight\" backlight device reference counting\n\nDuring appletb_kbd_probe, probe attempts to get the backlight device\nby name. When this happens backlight_device_get_by_name looks for a\ndevice in the backlight class which has name \"appletb_backlight\" and\nupon finding a match it increments the reference count for the device\nand returns it to the caller. However this reference is never released\nleading to a reference leak.\n\nFix this by decrementing the backlight device reference count on removal\nvia put_device and on probe failure.","publishedAt":"2025-07-06T09:11:14.930Z","updatedAt":"2026-05-11T21:23:51.093Z","severity":null,"assigner":"Linux","products":["Linux Linux"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783","status":"affected","lessThan":"751d5437112a3f387de4ef6d2d1c131068ff7627","versionType":"git"},{"version":"93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783","status":"affected","lessThan":"4540e41e753a7d69ecd3f5bad51fe620205c3a18","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/hid/hid-appletb-kbd.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"6.15","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"6.15","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.15.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.15.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.16","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/hid/hid-appletb-kbd.c"]}],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/751d5437112a3f387de4ef6d2d1c131068ff7627","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4540e41e753a7d69ecd3f5bad51fe620205c3a18"],"weaknesses":[],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:09:09.358Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2025/38xxx/CVE-2025-38235.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2025-38235","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2025-07-06T09:11:14.930Z","dateUpdated":"2026-05-11T21:23:51.093Z","assignerShortName":"Linux","assignerOrgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateReserved":"2025-04-16T04:51:23.996Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"HID: appletb-kbd: fix \"appletb_backlight\" backlight device reference counting","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nHID: appletb-kbd: fix \"appletb_backlight\" backlight device reference counting\n\nDuring appletb_kbd_probe, probe attempts to get the backlight device\nby name. When this happens backlight_device_get_by_name looks for a\ndevice in the backlight class which has name \"appletb_backlight\" and\nupon finding a match it increments the reference count for the device\nand returns it to the caller. However this reference is never released\nleading to a reference leak.\n\nFix this by decrementing the backlight device reference count on removal\nvia put_device and on probe failure."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783","status":"affected","lessThan":"751d5437112a3f387de4ef6d2d1c131068ff7627","versionType":"git"},{"version":"93a0fc48948107e0cc34e1de22c3cb363a8f2783","status":"affected","lessThan":"4540e41e753a7d69ecd3f5bad51fe620205c3a18","versionType":"git"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/hid/hid-appletb-kbd.c"]},{"vendor":"Linux","product":"Linux","defaultStatus":"affected","versions":[{"version":"6.15","status":"affected"},{"version":"0","status":"unaffected","lessThan":"6.15","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.15.5","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"6.15.*","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"6.16","status":"unaffected","lessThanOrEqual":"*","versionType":"original_commit_for_fix"}],"repo":"https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git","programFiles":["drivers/hid/hid-appletb-kbd.c"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/751d5437112a3f387de4ef6d2d1c131068ff7627"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4540e41e753a7d69ecd3f5bad51fe620205c3a18"}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Linux","orgId":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67","dateUpdated":"2026-05-11T21:23:51.093Z"},"cpeApplicability":[{"nodes":[{"operator":"OR","negate":false,"cpeMatch":[{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"6.15","versionEndExcluding":"6.15.5"},{"vulnerable":true,"criteria":"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*","versionStartIncluding":"6.15","versionEndExcluding":"6.16"}]}]}],"x_generator":{"engine":"bippy-1.2.0"}}}}}