CVE-2025-40251

MEDIUM EPSS 2.4%
Published Dec 4, 20256mo ago · Modified Jun 17, 20261w ago
5.5 CVSS 3.1
Medium
Find Similar
Published Dec 4, 2025 6mo ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 1w ago

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: devlink: rate: Unset parent pointer in devl_rate_nodes_destroy The function devl_rate_nodes_destroy is documented to "Unset parent for all rate objects". However, it was only calling the driver-specific `rate_leaf_parent_set` or `rate_node_parent_set` ops and decrementing the parent's refcount, without actually setting the `devlink_rate->parent` pointer to NULL. This leaves a dangling pointer in the `devlink_rate` struct, which cause refcount error in netdevsim[1] and mlx5[2]. In addition, this is inconsistent with the behavior of `devlink_nl_rate_parent_node_set`, where the parent pointer is correctly cleared. This patch fixes the issue by explicitly setting `devlink_rate->parent` to NULL after notifying the driver, thus fulfilling the function's documented behavior for all rate objects. [1] repro steps: echo 1 > /sys/bus/netdevsim/new_device devlink dev eswitch set netdevsim/netdevsim1 mode switchdev echo 1 > /sys/bus/netdevsim/devices/netdevsim1/sriov_numvfs devlink port function rate add netdevsim/netdevsim1/test_node devlink port function rate set netdevsim/netdevsim1/128 parent test_node echo 1 > /sys/bus/netdevsim/del_device dmesg: refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory. WARNING: CPU: 8 PID: 1530 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 1530 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.18.0-rc4+ #1 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 Call Trace: <TASK> devl_rate_leaf_destroy+0x8d/0x90 __nsim_dev_port_del+0x6c/0x70 [netdevsim] nsim_dev_reload_destroy+0x11c/0x140 [netdevsim] nsim_drv_remove+0x2b/0xb0 [netdevsim] device_release_driver_internal+0x194/0x1f0 bus_remove_device+0xc6/0x130 device_del+0x159/0x3c0 device_unregister+0x1a/0x60 del_device_store+0x111/0x170 [netdevsim] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12e/0x1e0 vfs_write+0x215/0x3d0 ksys_write+0x5f/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0x55/0x10f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 [2] devlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:08:00.0 mode switchdev devlink port add pci/0000:08:00.0 flavour pcisf pfnum 0 sfnum 1000 devlink port function rate add pci/0000:08:00.0/group1 devlink port function rate set pci/0000:08:00.0/32768 parent group1 modprobe -r mlx5_ib mlx5_fwctl mlx5_core dmesg: refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory. WARNING: CPU: 7 PID: 16151 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 CPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 16151 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.17.0-rc7_for_upstream_min_debug_2025_10_02_12_44 #1 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 Call Trace: <TASK> devl_rate_leaf_destroy+0x8d/0x90 mlx5_esw_offloads_devlink_port_unregister+0x33/0x60 [mlx5_core] mlx5_esw_offloads_unload_rep+0x3f/0x50 [mlx5_core] mlx5_eswitch_unload_sf_vport+0x40/0x90 [mlx5_core] mlx5_sf_esw_event+0xc4/0x120 [mlx5_core] notifier_call_chain+0x33/0xa0 blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x3b/0x50 mlx5_eswitch_disable_locked+0x50/0x110 [mlx5_core] mlx5_eswitch_disable+0x63/0x90 [mlx5_core] mlx5_unload+0x1d/0x170 [mlx5_core] mlx5_uninit_one+0xa2/0x130 [mlx5_core] remove_one+0x78/0xd0 [mlx5_core] pci_device_remove+0x39/0xa0 device_release_driver_internal+0x194/0x1f0 unbind_store+0x99/0xa0 kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12e/0x1e0 vfs_write+0x215/0x3d0 ksys_write+0x5f/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0x53/0x1f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53

CVSS Details

Base Score
5.5
Exploitability
1.8
Impact
3.6
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality None
Integrity None
Availability High

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
2.4% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
No Known Exploit
Patch Available

Weaknesses 1

CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference Memory Safety

Affected Products 10

VendorProductVersionRange
linuxlinux_kernel*≥5.14  –  <6.1.164
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.2  –  <6.6.118
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.7  –  <6.12.60
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.13  –  <6.17.10
linuxlinux_kernel6.18any
linuxlinux_kernel6.18any
linuxlinux_kernel6.18any
linuxlinux_kernel6.18any
linuxlinux_kernel6.18any
linuxlinux_kernel6.18any

References 6

  • cert-portal.siemens.com https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-253495.html
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/542f45486f1ce2d2dde75bd85aca0389ef7046c3
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/715d9cda646a8a38ea8b2bb5afb679a7464055e2
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90e51e20bcec9bff5b2421ce1bd95704764655f5
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c70df6c17d389cc743f0eb30160e2d6bc6910db8
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f94c1a114ac209977bdf5ca841b98424295ab1f0
    Patch

Remediation

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/542f45486f1ce2d2dde75bd85aca0389ef7046c3
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/715d9cda646a8a38ea8b2bb5afb679a7464055e2
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90e51e20bcec9bff5b2421ce1bd95704764655f5
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c70df6c17d389cc743f0eb30160e2d6bc6910db8
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f94c1a114ac209977bdf5ca841b98424295ab1f0
    Patch