Linux Kernel up to 6.12.20/6.13.8 netfs invalidate_cache null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.20/6.13.8. This impacts the function invalidate_cache of the component netfs. The manipulation results in null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2025-22002. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.20/6.13.8. Affected is the function invalidate_cache of the component netfs. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Call `invalidate_cache` only if implemented Many filesystems such as NFS and Ceph do not implement the `invalidate_cache` method. On those filesystems, if writing to the cache (`NETFS_WRITE_TO_CACHE`) fails for some reason, the kernel crashes like this: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 #PF: supervisor instruction fetch in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0010) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0010 [#1] SMP PTI CPU: 9 UID: 0 PID: 3380 Comm: kworker/u193:11 Not tainted 6.13.3-cm4all1-hp #437 Hardware name: HP ProLiant DL380 Gen9/ProLiant DL380 Gen9, BIOS P89 10/17/2018 Workqueue: events_unbound netfs_write_collection_worker RIP: 0010:0x0 Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0xffffffffffffffd6. RSP: 0018:ffff9b86e2ca7dc0 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 7fffffffffffffff RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: ffff89259d576a18 RDI: ffff89259d576900 RBP: ffff89259d5769b0 R08: ffff9b86e2ca7d28 R09: 0000000000000002 R10: ffff89258ceaca80 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000020 R13: ffff893d158b9338 R14: ffff89259d576900 R15: ffff89259d5769b0 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff893c9fa40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: ffffffffffffffd6 CR3: 000000054442e003 CR4: 00000000001706f0 Call Trace: ? __die+0x1f/0x60 ? page_fault_oops+0x15c/0x460 ? try_to_wake_up+0x2d2/0x530 ? exc_page_fault+0x5e/0x100 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 netfs_write_collection_worker+0xe9f/0x12b0 ? xs_poll_check_readable+0x3f/0x80 ? xs_stream_data_receive_workfn+0x8d/0x110 process_one_work+0x134/0x2d0 worker_thread+0x299/0x3a0 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0xba/0xe0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x30/0x50 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Modules linked in: CR2: 0000000000000000 This patch adds the missing `NULL` check.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-22002 since 12/29/2024. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 241070 (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS : Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities (USN-7606-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.21 or 6.13.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0def1a40c3e76a468f8f66aa572caed44ec37277/c2d5d14a7bcbb045d0cd0095cefe95f2a4b91159/344b7ef248f420ed4ba3a3539cb0a0fc18df9a6c 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 (241070) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0698). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

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
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.13.0
• 6.13.1
• 6.13.2
• 6.13.3
• 6.13.4
• 6.13.5
• 6.13.6
• 6.13.7
• 6.13.8

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Exploitinginfo

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Entryinfo

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

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