ax25: rcu protect dev->ax25_ptr
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-416 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ax25: rcu protect dev->ax25_ptr syzbot found a lockdep issue [1]. We should remove ax25 RTNL dependency in ax25_setsockopt() This should also fix a variety of possible UAF in ax25. [1] WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ syz.5.1818/12806 is trying to acquire lock: ffffffff8fcb3988 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680 but task is already holding lock: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline] ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574 which lock already depends on the new lock. the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is: -> #1 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}: lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849 lock_sock_nested+0x48/0x100 net/core/sock.c:3642 lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline] ax25_kill_by_device net/ax25/af_ax25.c:101 [inline] ax25_device_event+0x24d/0x580 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:146 notifier_call_chain+0x1a5/0x3f0 kernel/notifier.c:85 __dev_notify_flags+0x207/0x400 dev_change_flags+0xf0/0x1a0 net/core/dev.c:9026 dev_ifsioc+0x7c8/0xe70 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:563 dev_ioctl+0x719/0x1340 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:820 sock_do_ioctl+0x240/0x460 net/socket.c:1234 sock_ioctl+0x626/0x8e0 net/socket.c:1339 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:906 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xf5/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:892 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f -> #0 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}: check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline] check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3280 [inline] validate_chain+0x18ef/0x5920 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3904 __lock_acquire+0x1397/0x2100 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5226 lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849 __mutex_lock_common kernel/locking/mutex.c:585 [inline] __mutex_lock+0x1ac/0xee0 kernel/locking/mutex.c:735 ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680 do_sock_setsockopt+0x3af/0x720 net/socket.c:2324 __sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2349 [inline] __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2355 [inline] __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2352 [inline] __x64_sys_setsockopt+0x1ee/0x280 net/socket.c:2352 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f other info that might help us debug this: Possible unsafe locking scenario: CPU0 CPU1 ---- ---- lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25); lock(rtnl_mutex); lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25); lock(rtnl_mutex); *** DEADLOCK *** 1 lock held by syz.5.1818/12806: #0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline] #0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574 stack backtrace: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 12806 Comm: syz.5.1818 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_circular_bug+0x13a/0x1b0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2074 check_noncircular+0x36a/0x4a0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2206 check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline] check_prevs_add kernel/lockin ---truncated---
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 3.18.132 to before 3.19; 4.4.170 to before 4.5; 4.9.149 to before 4.10; 4.14.92 to before 4.15; 4.19.14 to before 4.20; 4.20.1 to before 4.21 | 3.19, 4.5, 4.10, 4.15, 4.20, 4.21 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 5.0 and later | 6.1.129, 6.6.76, 6.12.13, 6.13.2, 6.14 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.18.132 to before 3.19; 4.4.170 to before 4.5; 4.9.149 to before 4.10; 4.14.92 to before 4.15; 4.19.14 to before 4.20; 4.20.1 to before 4.21 Fixed in 3.19, 4.5, 4.10, 4.15, 4.20, 4.21 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.0 and later Fixed in 6.1.129, 6.6.76, 6.12.13, 6.13.2, 6.14 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.18.132 to before 3.19; 4.4.170 to before 4.5; 4.9.149 to before 4.10; 4.14.92 to before 4.15; 4.19.14 to before 4.20; 4.20.1 to before 6.1.129; 6.2 to before 6.6.76; 6.7 to before 6.12.13; 6.13 to before 6.13.2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.18.132 to before 3.19; 4.4.170 to before 4.5; 4.9.149 to before 4.10; 4.14.92 to before 4.15; 4.19.14 to before 4.20; 4.20.1 to before 6.1.129; 6.2 to before 6.6.76; 6.7 to before 6.12.13; 6.13 to before 6.13.2 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 3.19, 4.5, 4.10, 4.15, 4.20, 4.21
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.129, 6.6.76, 6.12.13, 6.13.2, 6.14
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-21812
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5qmp-w6rv-24wf
References
Patch 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2802ed4ced27ebd474828fc67ffd7d66f11e3605
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7705d8a7f2c26c80973c81093db07c6022b2b30e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8937f5e38a218531dce2a89fae60e3adcc2311e1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2531db6de3c95551be58878f859c6a053b7eb2e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/95fc45d1dea8e1253f8ec58abc5befb71553d666
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2025-21812 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-21812 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5qmp-w6rv-24wf · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-21812 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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