Linux Kernel up to 5.4.301/6.6.117/6.12.59/6.17.9 connect use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.301/6.6.117/6.12.59/6.17.9. The affected element is the function connect. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-40248. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.301/6.6.117/6.12.59/6.17.9. This issue affects the function connect. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vsock: Ignore signal/timeout on connect() if already established During connect(), acting on a signal/timeout by disconnecting an already established socket leads to several issues: 1. connect() invoking vsock_transport_cancel_pkt() -> virtio_transport_purge_skbs() may race with sendmsg() invoking virtio_transport_get_credit(). This results in a permanently elevated `vvs->bytes_unsent`. Which, in turn, confuses the SOCK_LINGER handling. 2. connect() resetting a connected socket's state may race with socket being placed in a sockmap. A disconnected socket remaining in a sockmap breaks sockmap's assumptions. And gives rise to WARNs. 3. connect() transitioning SS_CONNECTED -> SS_UNCONNECTED allows for a transport change/drop after TCP_ESTABLISHED. Which poses a problem for any simultaneous sendmsg() or connect() and may result in a use-after-free/null-ptr-deref. Do not disconnect socket on signal/timeout. Keep the logic for unconnected sockets: they don't linger, can't be placed in a sockmap, are rejected by sendmsg(). [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/ [2]: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/ [3]: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-40248 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation is known 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 02/24/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 277511 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-40248), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.302, 6.6.118, 6.12.60 or 6.17.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3f71753935d648082a8279a97d30efe6b85be680/5998da5a8208ae9ad7838ba322bccb2bdcd95e81/f1c170cae285e4b8f61be043bb17addc3d0a14b5/ab6b19f690d89ae4709fba73a3c4a7911f495b7a/002541ef650b742a198e4be363881439bb9d86b4 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 (277511), EUVD (EUVD-2025-201209) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2747). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Microsoft Azure Linux

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.4.301
• 6.6.117
• 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
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2
• 6.17.3
• 6.17.4
• 6.17.5
• 6.17.6
• 6.17.7
• 6.17.8
• 6.17.9

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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