Linux Kernel up to 6.12.9/6.13-rc6 hns3 null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.9/6.13-rc6. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component hns3. Executing a manipulation can lead to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-21649. There is not any exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.9/6.13-rc6. This vulnerability affects some unknown functionality of the component hns3. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: hns3: fix kernel crash when 1588 is sent on HIP08 devices Currently, HIP08 devices does not register the ptp devices, so the hdev->ptp is NULL. But the tx process would still try to set hardware time stamp info with SKBTX_HW_TSTAMP flag and cause a kernel crash. [ 128.087798] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000018 ... [ 128.280251] pc : hclge_ptp_set_tx_info+0x2c/0x140 [hclge] [ 128.286600] lr : hclge_ptp_set_tx_info+0x20/0x140 [hclge] [ 128.292938] sp : ffff800059b93140 [ 128.297200] x29: ffff800059b93140 x28: 0000000000003280 [ 128.303455] x27: ffff800020d48280 x26: ffff0cb9dc814080 [ 128.309715] x25: ffff0cb9cde93fa0 x24: 0000000000000001 [ 128.315969] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000000000000194 [ 128.322219] x21: ffff0cd94f986000 x20: 0000000000000000 [ 128.328462] x19: ffff0cb9d2a166c0 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 128.334698] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: ffffcf1fc523ed24 [ 128.340934] x15: 0000ffffd530a518 x14: 0000000000000000 [ 128.347162] x13: ffff0cd6bdb31310 x12: 0000000000000368 [ 128.353388] x11: ffff0cb9cfbc7070 x10: ffff2cf55dd11e02 [ 128.359606] x9 : ffffcf1f85a212b4 x8 : ffff0cd7cf27dab0 [ 128.365831] x7 : 0000000000000a20 x6 : ffff0cd7cf27d000 [ 128.372040] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 000000000000ffff [ 128.378243] x3 : 0000000000000400 x2 : ffffcf1f85a21294 [ 128.384437] x1 : ffff0cb9db520080 x0 : ffff0cb9db500080 [ 128.390626] Call trace: [ 128.393964] hclge_ptp_set_tx_info+0x2c/0x140 [hclge] [ 128.399893] hns3_nic_net_xmit+0x39c/0x4c4 [hns3] [ 128.405468] xmit_one.constprop.0+0xc4/0x200 [ 128.410600] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x54/0xf0 [ 128.415556] sch_direct_xmit+0xe8/0x634 [ 128.420246] __dev_queue_xmit+0x224/0xc70 [ 128.425101] dev_queue_xmit+0x1c/0x40 [ 128.429608] ovs_vport_send+0xac/0x1a0 [openvswitch] [ 128.435409] do_output+0x60/0x17c [openvswitch] [ 128.440770] do_execute_actions+0x898/0x8c4 [openvswitch] [ 128.446993] ovs_execute_actions+0x64/0xf0 [openvswitch] [ 128.453129] ovs_dp_process_packet+0xa0/0x224 [openvswitch] [ 128.459530] ovs_vport_receive+0x7c/0xfc [openvswitch] [ 128.465497] internal_dev_xmit+0x34/0xb0 [openvswitch] [ 128.471460] xmit_one.constprop.0+0xc4/0x200 [ 128.476561] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x54/0xf0 [ 128.481489] __dev_queue_xmit+0x968/0xc70 [ 128.486330] dev_queue_xmit+0x1c/0x40 [ 128.490856] ip_finish_output2+0x250/0x570 [ 128.495810] __ip_finish_output+0x170/0x1e0 [ 128.500832] ip_finish_output+0x3c/0xf0 [ 128.505504] ip_output+0xbc/0x160 [ 128.509654] ip_send_skb+0x58/0xd4 [ 128.513892] udp_send_skb+0x12c/0x354 [ 128.518387] udp_sendmsg+0x7a8/0x9c0 [ 128.522793] inet_sendmsg+0x4c/0x8c [ 128.527116] __sock_sendmsg+0x48/0x80 [ 128.531609] __sys_sendto+0x124/0x164 [ 128.536099] __arm64_sys_sendto+0x30/0x5c [ 128.540935] invoke_syscall+0x50/0x130 [ 128.545508] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x10c/0x124 [ 128.551205] do_el0_svc+0x34/0xdc [ 128.555347] el0_svc+0x20/0x30 [ 128.559227] el0_sync_handler+0xb8/0xc0 [ 128.563883] el0_sync+0x160/0x180

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-21649 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation appears to be difficult. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 214901 (SUSE SLES15 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:0289-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.10 or 6.13-rc7 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f19ab3ef96d9626e5f1bdc56d3574c355e83d623/9741e72b2286de8b38de9db685588ac421a95c87 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (214901) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0119). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Avamar
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
• Open Source Linux Kernel

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.13-rc1
• 6.13-rc2
• 6.13-rc3
• 6.13-rc4
• 6.13-rc5
• 6.13-rc6

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

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CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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