Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2025-21642

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.3%

Published

Jan 19, 2025

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A bug in the Linux kernel can make the system crash when certain processes end, potentially disrupting services until the kernel is updated.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Local User
Complexity
Moderate
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Race Condition
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Improper access to per-netns data via current->nsproxy in MPTCP sysctl scheduler handler allows null pointer dereference or general protection fault during task exit when nsproxy has been dropped.

Why it matters to the business

Kernel crashes triggered during normal process termination (such as accounting operations) cause system instability, service denial, and potential data loss on affected Linux systems; high prevalence in kernels increases exposure across servers and devices.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker crafts a sequence that invokes acct(2) or similar operations while triggering process exit; this races with MPTCP sysctl access that dereferences a stale or null nsproxy, resulting in an oops and kernel panic as demonstrated by syzbot.

How to fix it

Upgrade Linux kernel to fixed versions such as 6.6.72 or commit c0e394fd6b887e84da17e38aaa6c1c104f9c86c2; apply vendor patches for affected distributions; avoid use of legacy acct(2) interfaces until patched.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify running kernel version against fixed releases; reproduce with syzbot reproducer or acct(2) workloads under KASAN; confirm absence of oops in proc_scheduler/net/mptcp/ctrl.c after upgrade.

Typical attack path

  1. Trigger process accounting or sysctl read/write on MPTCP scheduler
  2. Force task exit path that drops nsproxy
  3. Cause concurrent access in proc_scheduler leading to null dereference
  4. Kernel oops and panic

How to detect it

Search kernel logs and dmesg for oops traces referencing proc_scheduler, net/mptcp/ctrl.c, general protection fault, or null-ptr-deref during task exit or acct operations; correlate with syz-executor or similar processes.

  • proc_scheduler+0xc6/0x3c0 net/mptcp/ctrl.c:125
  • KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000028-0x000000000000002f]
  • Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address
  • RIP: 0010:proc_scheduler
  • syz-executor

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel upgrade on all exposed systems within 30 days
  • Monitor for kernel oops logs containing mptcp or proc_scheduler
  • Disable unnecessary accounting features if upgrade delayed
  • Test patches in staging environments before broad deployment

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mptcp: sysctl: sched: avoid using current->nsproxy Using the 'net' structure via 'current' is not recommended for different reasons. First, if the goal is to use it to read or write per-netns data, this is inconsistent with how the "generic" sysctl entries are doing: directly by only using pointers set to the table entry, e.g. table->data. Linked to that, the per-netns data should always be obtained from the table linked to the netns it had been created for, which may not coincide with the reader's or writer's netns. Another reason is that access to current->nsproxy->netns can oops if attempted when current->nsproxy had been dropped when the current task is exiting. This is what syzbot found, when using acct(2): Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000005: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN PTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000028-0x000000000000002f] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 5924 Comm: syz-executor Not tainted 6.13.0-rc5-syzkaller-00004-gccb98ccef0e5 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024 RIP: 0010:proc_scheduler+0xc6/0x3c0 net/mptcp/ctrl.c:125 Code: 03 42 80 3c 38 00 0f 85 fe 02 00 00 4d 8b a4 24 08 09 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 49 8d 7c 24 28 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 cc 02 00 00 4d 8b 7c 24 28 48 8d 84 24 c8 00 00 RSP: 0018:ffffc900034774e8 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 1ffff9200068ee9e RCX: ffffc90003477620 RDX: 0000000000000005 RSI: ffffffff8b08f91e RDI: 0000000000000028 RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: ffffc90003477710 R09: 0000000000000040 R10: 0000000000000040 R11: 00000000726f7475 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffffc90003477620 R14: ffffc90003477710 R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880b8700000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007fee3cd452d8 CR3: 000000007d116000 CR4: 00000000003526f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> proc_sys_call_handler+0x403/0x5d0 fs/proc/proc_sysctl.c:601 __kernel_write_iter+0x318/0xa80 fs/read_write.c:612 __kernel_write+0xf6/0x140 fs/read_write.c:632 do_acct_process+0xcb0/0x14a0 kernel/acct.c:539 acct_pin_kill+0x2d/0x100 kernel/acct.c:192 pin_kill+0x194/0x7c0 fs/fs_pin.c:44 mnt_pin_kill+0x61/0x1e0 fs/fs_pin.c:81 cleanup_mnt+0x3ac/0x450 fs/namespace.c:1366 task_work_run+0x14e/0x250 kernel/task_work.c:239 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:43 [inline] do_exit+0xad8/0x2d70 kernel/exit.c:938 do_group_exit+0xd3/0x2a0 kernel/exit.c:1087 get_signal+0x2576/0x2610 kernel/signal.c:3017 arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x90/0x7e0 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c:337 exit_to_user_mode_loop kernel/entry/common.c:111 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_prepare include/linux/entry-common.h:329 [inline] __syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work kernel/entry/common.c:207 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x150/0x2a0 kernel/entry/common.c:218 do_syscall_64+0xda/0x250 arch/x86/entry/common.c:89 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fee3cb87a6a Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0x7fee3cb87a40. RSP: 002b:00007fffcccac688 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000037 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 00007fffcccac710 RCX: 00007fee3cb87a6a RDX: 0000000000000041 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 0000000000000003 R08: 00007fffcccac6ac R09: 00007fffcccacac7 R10: 00007fffcccac710 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 00007fee3cd49500 R13: 00007fffcccac6ac R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 00007fee3cd4b000 </TASK> Modules linked in: ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- RIP: 0010:proc_scheduler+0xc6/0x3c0 net/mptcp/ctrl.c:125 Code: 03 42 80 3c 38 00 0f 85 fe 02 00 00 4d 8b a4 24 08 09 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ---truncated---

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:13 linux 0 No fix
Debian:13 linux 0 6.12.10-1
Linux Kernel 0 6.6.72
Mageia:9 dwarves 0 1.29-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel 0 6.6.74-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kernel-linus 0 6.6.74-1.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-virtualbox 0 7.0.24-64.mga9
Mageia:9 kmod-xtables-addons 0 3.24-70.mga9
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-iot 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1029.31~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.8 0 6.8.0-1029.34~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1030.32~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-60.63~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm-6.8 0 6.8.0-1026.26~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-60.63.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1028.31~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-5.17 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.1 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.8 0 6.8.0-1026.27~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.8 0 6.8.0-62.65~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.5 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS:for:NVIDIA:BlueField linux-bluefield 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 6.8.0-60.63
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.8.0-1029.31
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.8.0-1029.34
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure-6.11 0 6.11.0-1012.12~24.04.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1016.17
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.8.0-1030.32
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.11 0 6.11.0-1011.11~24.04.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1025.29
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1012.14
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.11 0 6.11.0-21.21~24.04.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.8.0-1026.26
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-60.63.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1028.31
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.11 0 6.11.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1028.31.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 0 6.8.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.11 0 6.11.0-1017.17
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1028.28
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.8.0-1026.27
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.8.0-1028.32
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 6.8.0-60.63.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-xilinx 0 6.8.0-1017.18
Ubuntu:24.10 linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-lowlatency 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-lowlatency 0 6.11.0-1011.12
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-oracle 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-raspi 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-raspi 0 6.11.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:25.04 linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-lts-xenial 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-aws-hwe 0 No fix

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