Linux Kernel up to 6.16.4/6.17-rc3 mISDN uninitialized pointer

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.16.4/6.17-rc3 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component mISDN. Executing a manipulation can lead to uninitialized pointer. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-39833. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.16.4/6.17-rc3. It has been declared as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown code of the component mISDN. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a uninitialized pointer vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-824. The product accesses or uses a pointer that has not been initialized. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mISDN: hfcpci: Fix warning when deleting uninitialized timer With CONFIG_DEBUG_OBJECTS_TIMERS unloading hfcpci module leads to the following splat: [ 250.215892] ODEBUG: assert_init not available (active state 0) object: ffffffffc01a3dc0 object type: timer_list hint: 0x0 [ 250.217520] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 233 at lib/debugobjects.c:612 debug_print_object+0x1b6/0x2c0 [ 250.218775] Modules linked in: hfcpci(-) mISDN_core [ 250.219537] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 233 Comm: rmmod Not tainted 6.17.0-rc2-g6f713187ac98 #2 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 250.220940] Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 250.222377] RIP: 0010:debug_print_object+0x1b6/0x2c0 [ 250.223131] Code: fc ff df 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 80 3c 02 00 75 4f 41 56 48 8b 14 dd a0 4e 01 9f 48 89 ee 48 c7 c7 20 46 01 9f e8 cb 84d [ 250.225805] RSP: 0018:ffff888015ea7c08 EFLAGS: 00010286 [ 250.226608] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000005 RCX: ffffffff9be93a95 [ 250.227708] RDX: 1ffff1100d945138 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffff88806ca289c0 [ 250.228993] RBP: ffffffff9f014a00 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed1002bd4f39 [ 250.230043] R10: ffff888015ea79cf R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000001 [ 250.231185] R13: ffffffff9eea0520 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff888015ea7cc8 [ 250.232454] FS: 00007f3208f01540(0000) GS:ffff8880caf5a000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 250.233851] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 250.234856] CR2: 00007f32090a7421 CR3: 0000000004d63000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 [ 250.236117] Call Trace: [ 250.236599] <TASK> [ 250.236967] ? trace_irq_enable.constprop.0+0xd4/0x130 [ 250.237920] debug_object_assert_init+0x1f6/0x310 [ 250.238762] ? __pfx_debug_object_assert_init+0x10/0x10 [ 250.239658] ? __lock_acquire+0xdea/0x1c70 [ 250.240369] __try_to_del_timer_sync+0x69/0x140 [ 250.241172] ? __pfx___try_to_del_timer_sync+0x10/0x10 [ 250.242058] ? __timer_delete_sync+0xc6/0x120 [ 250.242842] ? lock_acquire+0x30/0x80 [ 250.243474] ? __timer_delete_sync+0xc6/0x120 [ 250.244262] __timer_delete_sync+0x98/0x120 [ 250.245015] HFC_cleanup+0x10/0x20 [hfcpci] [ 250.245704] __do_sys_delete_module+0x348/0x510 [ 250.246461] ? __pfx___do_sys_delete_module+0x10/0x10 [ 250.247338] do_syscall_64+0xc1/0x360 [ 250.247924] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Fix this by initializing hfc_tl timer with DEFINE_TIMER macro. Also, use mod_timer instead of manual timeout update.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-39833 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 265268 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-39833), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.16.5 or 6.17-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 43fc5da8133badf17f5df250ba03b9d882254845/97766512a9951b9fd6fc97f1b93211642bb0b220 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 (265268) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2077). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.16.0
• 6.16.1
• 6.16.2
• 6.16.3
• 6.16.4
• 6.17-rc1
• 6.17-rc2
• 6.17-rc3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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Entryinfo

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