Linux Kernel up to 6.16-rc2 mpls rcu_dereference_rtnl null pointer dereference

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5.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.16-rc2. Affected is the function rcu_dereference_rtnl of the component mpls. Executing a manipulation can lead to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-38324. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.16-rc2. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects the function rcu_dereference_rtnl of the component mpls. 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. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mpls: Use rcu_dereference_rtnl() in mpls_route_input_rcu(). As syzbot reported [0], mpls_route_input_rcu() can be called from mpls_getroute(), where is under RTNL. net->mpls.platform_label is only updated under RTNL. Let's use rcu_dereference_rtnl() in mpls_route_input_rcu() to silence the splat. [0]: WARNING: suspicious RCU usage 6.15.0-rc7-syzkaller-00082-g5cdb2c77c4c3 #0 Not tainted ---------------------------- net/mpls/af_mpls.c:84 suspicious rcu_dereference_check() usage! other info that might help us debug this: rcu_scheduler_active = 2, debug_locks = 1 1 lock held by syz.2.4451/17730: #0: ffffffff9012a3e8 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: rtnl_lock net/core/rtnetlink.c:80 [inline] #0: ffffffff9012a3e8 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x371/0xe90 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6961 stack backtrace: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 17730 Comm: syz.2.4451 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc7-syzkaller-00082-g5cdb2c77c4c3 #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 05/07/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x16c/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 lockdep_rcu_suspicious+0x166/0x260 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:6865 mpls_route_input_rcu+0x1d4/0x200 net/mpls/af_mpls.c:84 mpls_getroute+0x621/0x1ea0 net/mpls/af_mpls.c:2381 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x3c9/0xe90 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6964 netlink_rcv_skb+0x16d/0x440 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2534 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1313 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x53a/0x7f0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 netlink_sendmsg+0x8d1/0xdd0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1883 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:712 [inline] __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:727 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0xa98/0xc70 net/socket.c:2566 ___sys_sendmsg+0x134/0x1d0 net/socket.c:2620 __sys_sendmmsg+0x200/0x420 net/socket.c:2709 __do_sys_sendmmsg net/socket.c:2736 [inline] __se_sys_sendmmsg net/socket.c:2733 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmmsg+0x9c/0x100 net/socket.c:2733 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x230 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f0a2818e969 Code: ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 a8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007f0a28f52038 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000133 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f0a283b5fa0 RCX: 00007f0a2818e969 RDX: 0000000000000003 RSI: 0000200000000080 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007f0a28210ab1 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00007f0a283b5fa0 R15: 00007ffce5e9f268 </TASK>

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-38324 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 243500 (Amazon Linux 2023 : bpftool, kernel, kernel-devel (ALAS2023-2025-1111)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.95, 6.12.35, 6.15.4 or 6.16-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2919297b18e5a5fb7e643f9e32c12c0b17cce1be/36af82f25fbdcd719eb947c15ea874bf80bcf229/d8cd847fb8626872631cc22d44be5127b4ebfb74/49b8a9d7d44401a186e20b1aaf591d2e62727aeb/a060781640012d5d5105072f4c44ed6ad6830ef9/517bc6836ee9fcffe2539f6f6aa3fdd9c7a7ae73/f19cbd84e645e39bc3228e1191bb151ef0ffac8c/6dbb0d97c5096072c78a6abffe393584e57ae945 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 (243500), EUVD (EUVD-2025-20922) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1522). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

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

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 243500
Nessus Name: Amazon Linux 2023 : bpftool, kernel, kernel-devel (ALAS2023-2025-1111)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.4.295/5.10.239/5.15.186/6.1.142/6.6.95/6.12.35/6.15.4/6.16-rc3
Patch: 2919297b18e5a5fb7e643f9e32c12c0b17cce1be/36af82f25fbdcd719eb947c15ea874bf80bcf229/d8cd847fb8626872631cc22d44be5127b4ebfb74/49b8a9d7d44401a186e20b1aaf591d2e62727aeb/a060781640012d5d5105072f4c44ed6ad6830ef9/517bc6836ee9fcffe2539f6f6aa3fdd9c7a7ae73/f19cbd84e645e39bc3228e1191bb151ef0ffac8c/6dbb0d97c5096072c78a6abffe393584e57ae945

Timelineinfo

04/16/2025 CVE reserved
07/10/2025 +85 days Advisory disclosed
07/10/2025 +0 days VulDB entry created
12/19/2025 +162 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-38324 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-38324
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-315952
EUVD: 🔒
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2025-1522 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen erm&ouml;glichen Denial of Service

Entryinfo

Created: 07/10/2025 11:33
Updated: 12/19/2025 18:43
Changes: 07/10/2025 11:33 (59), 07/10/2025 17:01 (1), 08/05/2025 16:01 (2), 10/11/2025 21:02 (7), 11/02/2025 19:43 (1), 12/08/2025 00:33 (1), 12/19/2025 18:43 (13)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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