Linux Kernel up to 6.6.79/6.12.16/6.13.4/6.14-rc3 psock_update_sk_prot null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.79/6.12.16/6.13.4/6.14-rc3. Affected is the function vsock_proto::psock_update_sk_prot. Performing a manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2025-21854. There is no exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.79/6.12.16/6.13.4/6.14-rc3. This affects the function vsock_proto::psock_update_sk_prot. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as 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. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sockmap, vsock: For connectible sockets allow only connected sockmap expects all vsocks to have a transport assigned, which is expressed in vsock_proto::psock_update_sk_prot(). However, there is an edge case where an unconnected (connectible) socket may lose its previously assigned transport. This is handled with a NULL check in the vsock/BPF recv path. Another design detail is that listening vsocks are not supposed to have any transport assigned at all. Which implies they are not supported by the sockmap. But this is complicated by the fact that a socket, before switching to TCP_LISTEN, may have had some transport assigned during a failed connect() attempt. Hence, we may end up with a listening vsock in a sockmap, which blows up quickly: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000120-0x0000000000000127] CPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 56 Comm: kworker/7:0 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc1+ Workqueue: vsock-loopback vsock_loopback_work RIP: 0010:vsock_read_skb+0x4b/0x90 Call Trace: sk_psock_verdict_data_ready+0xa4/0x2e0 virtio_transport_recv_pkt+0x1ca8/0x2acc vsock_loopback_work+0x27d/0x3f0 process_one_work+0x846/0x1420 worker_thread+0x5b3/0xf80 kthread+0x35a/0x700 ret_from_fork+0x2d/0x70 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 For connectible sockets, instead of relying solely on the state of vsk->transport, tell sockmap to only allow those representing established connections. This aligns with the behaviour for AF_INET and AF_UNIX.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-21854 since 12/29/2024. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 236983 (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / 24.10 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7521-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.80, 6.12.17, 6.13.5 or 6.14-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch cc9a7832ede53ade1ba9991f0e27314caa4029d8/22b683217ad2112791a708693cb236507abd637a/f7b473e35986835cc2813fef7b9d40336a09247e/8fb5bb169d17cdd12c2dcc2e96830ed487d77a0f 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 (236983) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0545). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Siemens SIMATIC S7
• RESF Rocky Linux
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• 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
• 6.6.74
• 6.6.75
• 6.6.76
• 6.6.77
• 6.6.78
• 6.6.79
• 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
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.13.0
• 6.13.1
• 6.13.2
• 6.13.3
• 6.13.4
• 6.14-rc1
• 6.14-rc2
• 6.14-rc3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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