Linux Kernel up to 6.1.126/6.6.73/6.12.10 mlx5_lag_destroy_definers null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.126/6.6.73/6.12.10. It has been rated as problematic. This impacts the function mlx5_lag_destroy_definers. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-21675. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.126/6.6.73/6.12.10 and classified as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function mlx5_lag_destroy_definers. 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. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5: Clear port select structure when fail to create Clear the port select structure on error so no stale values left after definers are destroyed. That's because the mlx5_lag_destroy_definers() always try to destroy all lag definers in the tt_map, so in the flow below lag definers get double-destroyed and cause kernel crash: mlx5_lag_port_sel_create() mlx5_lag_create_definers() mlx5_lag_create_definer() <- Failed on tt 1 mlx5_lag_destroy_definers() <- definers[tt=0] gets destroyed mlx5_lag_port_sel_create() mlx5_lag_create_definers() mlx5_lag_create_definer() <- Failed on tt 0 mlx5_lag_destroy_definers() <- definers[tt=0] gets double-destroyed Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000008 Mem abort info: ESR = 0x0000000096000005 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005, ISS2 = 0x00000000 CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 user pgtable: 64k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000112ce2e00 [0000000000000008] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000, pud=0000000000000000 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000005 [#1] PREEMPT SMP Modules linked in: iptable_raw bonding ip_gre ip6_gre gre ip6_tunnel tunnel6 geneve ip6_udp_tunnel udp_tunnel ipip tunnel4 ip_tunnel rdma_ucm(OE) rdma_cm(OE) iw_cm(OE) ib_ipoib(OE) ib_cm(OE) ib_umad(OE) mlx5_ib(OE) ib_uverbs(OE) mlx5_fwctl(OE) fwctl(OE) mlx5_core(OE) mlxdevm(OE) ib_core(OE) mlxfw(OE) memtrack(OE) mlx_compat(OE) openvswitch nsh nf_conncount psample xt_conntrack xt_MASQUERADE nf_conntrack_netlink nfnetlink xfrm_user xfrm_algo xt_addrtype iptable_filter iptable_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 br_netfilter bridge stp llc netconsole overlay efi_pstore sch_fq_codel zram ip_tables crct10dif_ce qemu_fw_cfg fuse ipv6 crc_ccitt [last unloaded: mlx_compat(OE)] CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 217 Comm: kworker/u53:2 Tainted: G OE 6.11.0+ #2 Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 Workqueue: mlx5_lag mlx5_do_bond_work [mlx5_core] pstate: 60400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : mlx5_del_flow_rules+0x24/0x2c0 [mlx5_core] lr : mlx5_lag_destroy_definer+0x54/0x100 [mlx5_core] sp : ffff800085fafb00 x29: ffff800085fafb00 x28: ffff0000da0c8000 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: ffff0000da0c8000 x25: ffff0000da0c8000 x24: ffff0000da0c8000 x23: ffff0000c31f81a0 x22: 0400000000000000 x21: ffff0000da0c8000 x20: 0000000000000000 x19: 0000000000000001 x18: 0000000000000000 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000ffff8b0c9350 x14: 0000000000000000 x13: ffff800081390d18 x12: ffff800081dc3cc0 x11: 0000000000000001 x10: 0000000000000b10 x9 : ffff80007ab7304c x8 : ffff0000d00711f0 x7 : 0000000000000004 x6 : 0000000000000190 x5 : ffff00027edb3010 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : ffff0000d39b8000 x1 : ffff0000d39b8000 x0 : 0400000000000000 Call trace: mlx5_del_flow_rules+0x24/0x2c0 [mlx5_core] mlx5_lag_destroy_definer+0x54/0x100 [mlx5_core] mlx5_lag_destroy_definers+0xa0/0x108 [mlx5_core] mlx5_lag_port_sel_create+0x2d4/0x6f8 [mlx5_core] mlx5_activate_lag+0x60c/0x6f8 [mlx5_core] mlx5_do_bond_work+0x284/0x5c8 [mlx5_core] process_one_work+0x170/0x3e0 worker_thread+0x2d8/0x3e0 kthread+0x11c/0x128 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Code: a9025bf5 aa0003f6 a90363f7 f90023f9 (f9400400) ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-21675 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation appears 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 215144 (Debian dsa-5860 : affs-modules-6.1.0-21-4kc-malta-di - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.127, 6.6.74 or 6.12.11 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch efc92a260e23cf9fafb0b6f6c9beb6f8df93fab4/473bc285378f49aa27e5b3e95a6d5ed12995d654/1f6e619ef2a4def555b14ac2aeb4304bfccad59b/5641e82cb55b4ecbc6366a499300917d2f3e6790 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 (215144) 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

• 6.1.126
• 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

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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