Linux Kernel up to 6.6.73/6.12.10 vsock_bpf_recvmsg null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.73/6.12.10. Affected by this issue is the function vsock_bpf_recvmsg. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2025-21670. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.73/6.12.10 and classified as problematic. This issue affects the function vsock_bpf_recvmsg. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to 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. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vsock/bpf: return early if transport is not assigned Some of the core functions can only be called if the transport has been assigned. As Michal reported, a socket might have the transport at NULL, for example after a failed connect(), causing the following trace: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000a0 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 12faf8067 P4D 12faf8067 PUD 113670067 PMD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 15 UID: 0 PID: 1198 Comm: a.out Not tainted 6.13.0-rc2+ RIP: 0010:vsock_connectible_has_data+0x1f/0x40 Call Trace: vsock_bpf_recvmsg+0xca/0x5e0 sock_recvmsg+0xb9/0xc0 __sys_recvfrom+0xb3/0x130 __x64_sys_recvfrom+0x20/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x93/0x180 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e So we need to check the `vsk->transport` in vsock_bpf_recvmsg(), especially for connected sockets (stream/seqpacket) as we already do in __vsock_connectible_recvmsg().

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-21670 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 216395 (openSUSE 15 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:0557-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.74 or 6.12.11 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 58e586c30d0b6f5dc0174a41026f2b0a48c9aab6/6771e1279dadf1d92a72e1465134257d9e6f2459/f6abafcd32f9cfc4b1a2f820ecea70773e26d423 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 (216395) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0232). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

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

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.6.24
• 6.6.25
• 6.6.26
• 6.6.27
• 6.6.28
• 6.6.29
• 6.6.30
• 6.6.31
• 6.6.32
• 6.6.33
• 6.6.34
• 6.6.35
• 6.6.36
• 6.6.37
• 6.6.38
• 6.6.39
• 6.6.40
• 6.6.41
• 6.6.42
• 6.6.43
• 6.6.44
• 6.6.45
• 6.6.46
• 6.6.47
• 6.6.48
• 6.6.49
• 6.6.50
• 6.6.51
• 6.6.52
• 6.6.53
• 6.6.54
• 6.6.55
• 6.6.56
• 6.6.57
• 6.6.58
• 6.6.59
• 6.6.60
• 6.6.61
• 6.6.62
• 6.6.63
• 6.6.64
• 6.6.65
• 6.6.66
• 6.6.67
• 6.6.68
• 6.6.69
• 6.6.70
• 6.6.71
• 6.6.72
• 6.6.73
• 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
• 6.12.10

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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