Linux Kernel up to 6.12.22/6.13.10/6.14.1 lib/nlattr.c use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.22/6.13.10/6.14.1 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality in the library lib/nlattr.c. This manipulation causes use after free. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-22085. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.22/6.13.10/6.14.1. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown part in the library lib/nlattr.c. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/core: Fix use-after-free when rename device name Syzbot reported a slab-use-after-free with the following call trace: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nla_put+0xd3/0x150 lib/nlattr.c:1099 Read of size 5 at addr ffff888140ea1c60 by task syz.0.988/10025 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 10025 Comm: syz.0.988 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc4-syzkaller-00859-gf77f12010f67 #0 Hardware name: Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 02/12/2025 Call Trace: __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:408 [inline] print_report+0x16e/0x5b0 mm/kasan/report.c:521 kasan_report+0x143/0x180 mm/kasan/report.c:634 kasan_check_range+0x282/0x290 mm/kasan/generic.c:189 __asan_memcpy+0x29/0x70 mm/kasan/shadow.c:105 nla_put+0xd3/0x150 lib/nlattr.c:1099 nla_put_string include/net/netlink.h:1621 [inline] fill_nldev_handle+0x16e/0x200 drivers/infiniband/core/nldev.c:265 rdma_nl_notify_event+0x561/0xef0 drivers/infiniband/core/nldev.c:2857 ib_device_notify_register+0x22/0x230 drivers/infiniband/core/device.c:1344 ib_register_device+0x1292/0x1460 drivers/infiniband/core/device.c:1460 rxe_register_device+0x233/0x350 drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_verbs.c:1540 rxe_net_add+0x74/0xf0 drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_net.c:550 rxe_newlink+0xde/0x1a0 drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe.c:212 nldev_newlink+0x5ea/0x680 drivers/infiniband/core/nldev.c:1795 rdma_nl_rcv_skb drivers/infiniband/core/netlink.c:239 [inline] rdma_nl_rcv+0x6dd/0x9e0 drivers/infiniband/core/netlink.c:259 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1313 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x7f6/0x990 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 netlink_sendmsg+0x8de/0xcb0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1883 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:709 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x221/0x270 net/socket.c:724 ____sys_sendmsg+0x53a/0x860 net/socket.c:2564 ___sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2618 [inline] __sys_sendmsg+0x269/0x350 net/socket.c:2650 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f42d1b8d169 Code: ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 48 89 f8 48 ... RSP: 002b:00007f42d2960038 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002e RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f42d1da6320 RCX: 00007f42d1b8d169 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00004000000002c0 RDI: 000000000000000c RBP: 00007f42d1c0e2a0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00007f42d1da6320 R15: 00007ffe399344a8 Allocated by task 10025: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3f/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:68 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0x98/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:4294 [inline] __kmalloc_node_track_caller_noprof+0x28b/0x4c0 mm/slub.c:4313 __kmemdup_nul mm/util.c:61 [inline] kstrdup+0x42/0x100 mm/util.c:81 kobject_set_name_vargs+0x61/0x120 lib/kobject.c:274 dev_set_name+0xd5/0x120 drivers/base/core.c:3468 assign_name drivers/infiniband/core/device.c:1202 [inline] ib_register_device+0x178/0x1460 drivers/infiniband/core/device.c:1384 rxe_register_device+0x233/0x350 drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_verbs.c:1540 rxe_net_add+0x74/0xf0 drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_net.c:550 rxe_newlink+0xde/0x1a0 drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe.c:212 nldev_newlink+0x5ea/0x680 drivers/infiniband/core/nldev.c:1795 rdma_nl_rcv_skb drivers/infiniband/core/netlink.c:239 [inline] rdma_nl_rcv+0x6dd/0x9e0 drivers/infiniband/core/netlink.c:259 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1313 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x7f6/0x990 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 netlink_sendmsg+0x8de/0xcb0 net ---truncated---

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-22085 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation appears to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/15/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 240657 (Ubuntu 25.04 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7594-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.23, 6.13.11, 6.14.2 or 6.15-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0d6460b9d2a3ee380940bdf47680751ef91cb88e/56ec8580be5174b2b9774066e60f1aad56d201db/edf6b543e81ba68c6dbac2499ab362098a5a9716/1d6a9e7449e2a0c1e2934eee7880ba8bd1e464cd 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 (240657) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0844). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell Avamar
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

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
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 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
• 6.13.9
• 6.13.10
• 6.14.0
• 6.14.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Discussion