ipvs: fix ipv4 null-ptr-deref in route error path
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipvs: fix ipv4 null-ptr-deref in route error path The IPv4 code path in __ip_vs_get_out_rt() calls dst_link_failure() without ensuring skb->dev is set, leading to a NULL pointer dereference in fib_compute_spec_dst() when ipv4_link_failure() attempts to send ICMP destination unreachable messages. The issue emerged after commit ed0de45a1008 ("ipv4: recompile ip options in ipv4_link_failure") started calling __ip_options_compile() from ipv4_link_failure(). This code path eventually calls fib_compute_spec_dst() which dereferences skb->dev. An attempt was made to fix the NULL skb->dev dereference in commit 0113d9c9d1cc ("ipv4: fix null-deref in ipv4_link_failure"), but it only addressed the immediate dev_net(skb->dev) dereference by using a fallback device. The fix was incomplete because fib_compute_spec_dst() later in the call chain still accesses skb->dev directly, which remains NULL when IPVS calls dst_link_failure(). The crash occurs when: 1. IPVS processes a packet in NAT mode with a misconfigured destination 2. Route lookup fails in __ip_vs_get_out_rt() before establishing a route 3. The error path calls dst_link_failure(skb) with skb->dev == NULL 4. ipv4_link_failure() → ipv4_send_dest_unreach() → __ip_options_compile() → fib_compute_spec_dst() 5. fib_compute_spec_dst() dereferences NULL skb->dev Apply the same fix used for IPv6 in commit 326bf17ea5d4 ("ipvs: fix ipv6 route unreach panic"): set skb->dev from skb_dst(skb)->dev before calling dst_link_failure(). KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000328-0x000000000000032f] CPU: 1 PID: 12732 Comm: syz.1.3469 Not tainted 6.6.114 #2 RIP: 0010:__in_dev_get_rcu include/linux/inetdevice.h:233 RIP: 0010:fib_compute_spec_dst+0x17a/0x9f0 net/ipv4/fib_frontend.c:285 Call Trace: <TASK> spec_dst_fill net/ipv4/ip_options.c:232 spec_dst_fill net/ipv4/ip_options.c:229 __ip_options_compile+0x13a1/0x17d0 net/ipv4/ip_options.c:330 ipv4_send_dest_unreach net/ipv4/route.c:1252 ipv4_link_failure+0x702/0xb80 net/ipv4/route.c:1265 dst_link_failure include/net/dst.h:437 __ip_vs_get_out_rt+0x15fd/0x19e0 net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_xmit.c:412 ip_vs_nat_xmit+0x1d8/0xc80 net/netfilter/ipvs/ip_vs_xmit.c:764
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
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 | 3.18.139 to before 3.19; 4.4.179 to before 4.5; 4.9.171 to before 4.10; 4.14.114 to before 4.15; 4.19.37 to before 4.20; 5.0.10 to before 5.1 | 3.19, 4.5, 4.10, 4.15, 4.20, 5.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 5.1 and later | 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.64, 6.18.3, 6.19 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.18.139 to before 3.19; 4.4.179 to before 4.5; 4.9.171 to before 4.10; 4.14.114 to before 4.15; 4.19.37 to before 4.20; 5.0.10 to before 5.1 Fixed in 3.19, 4.5, 4.10, 4.15, 4.20, 5.1 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.1 and later Fixed in 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.64, 6.18.3, 6.19 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 3.19, 4.5, 4.10, 4.15, 4.20, 5.1
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.64, 6.18.3, 6.19
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-68813
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r9w6-9rjj-r9c5
- 2026-10-19 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
References
Other 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd72a93c80408f06327dd2d956eb1a656d0b5903
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/312d7cd88882fc6cadcc08b02287497aaaf94bcd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cdeff10851c37a002d87a035818ebd60fdb74447
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4729ff0581fbb7ad098b6153b76b6f5aac94618a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/25ab24df31f7af843c96a38e0781b9165216e1a8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/689a627d14788ad772e0fa24c2e57a23dbc7ce90
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad891bb3d079a46a821bf2b8867854645191bab0
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Sources
- CVE-2025-68813 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-68813 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r9w6-9rjj-r9c5 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-68813 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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