vsock: fix lock inversion in vsock_assign_transport()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vsock: fix lock inversion in vsock_assign_transport() Syzbot reported a potential lock inversion deadlock between vsock_register_mutex and sk_lock-AF_VSOCK when vsock_linger() is called. The issue was introduced by commit 687aa0c5581b ("vsock: Fix transport_* TOCTOU") which added vsock_register_mutex locking in vsock_assign_transport() around the transport->release() call, that can call vsock_linger(). vsock_assign_transport() can be called with sk_lock held. vsock_linger() calls sk_wait_event() that temporarily releases and re-acquires sk_lock. During this window, if another thread hold vsock_register_mutex while trying to acquire sk_lock, a circular dependency is created. Fix this by releasing vsock_register_mutex before calling transport->release() and vsock_deassign_transport(). This is safe because we don't need to hold vsock_register_mutex while releasing the old transport, and we ensure the new transport won't disappear by obtaining a module reference first via try_module_get().
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.10.240 to before 5.10.246; 5.15.189 to before 5.15.196; 6.1.146 to before 6.1.158; 6.6.99 to before 6.6.115; 6.12.39 to before 6.12.56; 6.15.7 to before 6.16 | 5.10.246, 5.15.196, 6.1.158, 6.6.115, 6.12.56, 6.16 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 6.16 and later | 5.10.246, 5.15.196, 6.1.158, 6.6.115, 6.12.56, 6.17.6, 6.18 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.10.240 to before 5.10.246; 5.15.189 to before 5.15.196; 6.1.146 to before 6.1.158; 6.6.99 to before 6.6.115; 6.12.39 to before 6.12.56; 6.15.7 to before 6.16 Fixed in 5.10.246, 5.15.196, 6.1.158, 6.6.115, 6.12.56, 6.16 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.16 and later Fixed in 5.10.246, 5.15.196, 6.1.158, 6.6.115, 6.12.56, 6.17.6, 6.18 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.246, 5.15.196, 6.1.158, 6.6.115, 6.12.56, 6.16
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.246, 5.15.196, 6.1.158, 6.6.115, 6.12.56, 6.17.6, 6.18
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-40231
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mpc4-rxjp-4rpf
References
Other 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ce4f856c64f0bc30e29302a0ce41f4295ca391c5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/09bba278ccde25a14b6e5088a9e65a8717d0cccf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b44182c116778feaa05da52a426aeb9da1878dcf
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42ed0784d11adebf748711e503af0eb9f1e6d81d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/251caee792a21eb0b781aab91362b422c945e162
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2a4346eea8b4cb75037dbcb20b98cb454324f80
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7c877e7535260cc7a21484c994e8ce7e8cb6780
More Linux 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-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel 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
Sources
- CVE-2025-40231 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-40231 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-mpc4-rxjp-4rpf · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-40231 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences