CVE-2025-22083
High · 7.8CVSS
7.8
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Apr 16, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
A flaw in how the operating system core manages certain virtual storage connections can let someone already on the machine gain full control or crash the system.
- Exploitation
- Local Privilege
- Attacker needs
- Low Privilege
- Complexity
- Moderate
- Impact
- Full Compromise
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Use After Free
- Remediation
- Patch
- Effort
- Medium
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Multiple calls to vhost_scsi_set_endpoint without an intervening vhost_scsi_clear_endpoint trigger use-after-free on vs_tpg pointers when no tpgs are found on subsequent calls, negative reference counts on tpg structures from duplicated undepend operations, and tpg leaks from target name overwrites that skip proper teardown.
Why it matters to the business
Local attackers can achieve privilege escalation or cause system instability on affected kernels in virtualized environments; the flaw affects downstream Red Hat ecosystems with high package prevalence, increasing operational risk and requiring prioritized remediation despite low EPSS.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker with local access on a system using vhost-scsi repeatedly invokes VHOST_SCSI_SET_ENDPOINT to populate and then invalidate the vs_tpg array, skips backend teardown, and later triggers vhost_scsi_handle_vq to dereference the freed pointer; similar kernel techniques appear in campaigns by listed threat actors exploiting related privilege-escalation flaws.
How to fix it
Apply the listed fixed package versions on Red Hat Enterprise Linux AUS 8.6 systems, for example postgresql-server to 0:13.18-1.module+el8.6.0+22575+1d1430ad.1, postgresql-contrib to 0:13.18-1.module+el8.6.0+22575+1d1430ad.1, pgaudit to 0:1.5.0-1.module+el8.4.0+8873+b821c30a and equivalent updates for all listed pg_repack, postgres-decoderbufs and related debug/doc packages; ensure vhost_scsi_clear_endpoint is called before any reconfiguration.
How to confirm the fix worked
Confirm installed package versions match the exact fixed strings provided for each component, verify that vhost_scsi_set_endpoint now returns an error on repeated calls without clear, and run kernel regression tests covering multiple endpoint set/clear sequences.
Typical attack path
- Obtain local user access on a host with vhost-scsi enabled
- Issue multiple VHOST_SCSI_SET_ENDPOINT ioctls with varying or empty tpg sets
- Send a SCSI request that walks the now-freed vs_tpg via vhost_vq_get_backend
- Leverage the resulting memory corruption for code execution or denial of service
How to detect it
Inspect kernel traces and audit logs for repeated vhost_scsi_set_endpoint invocations without matching clear_endpoint calls; look for oops or use-after-free reports referencing vs_tpg or vhost_scsi_handle_vq after endpoint configuration changes.
What your security team should do
- Patch all listed Red Hat AUS 8.6 packages to the supplied fixed versions within the next maintenance window
- Audit any custom vhost-scsi userspace code to enforce clear-before-set semantics
- Monitor kernel update channels for backports of the vhost-scsi endpoint handling fix
- Review logs for repeated set_endpoint calls as an indicator of misbehaving workloads
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vhost-scsi: Fix handling of multiple calls to vhost_scsi_set_endpoint If vhost_scsi_set_endpoint is called multiple times without a vhost_scsi_clear_endpoint between them, we can hit multiple bugs found by Haoran Zhang: 1. Use-after-free when no tpgs are found: This fixes a use after free that occurs when vhost_scsi_set_endpoint is called more than once and calls after the first call do not find any tpgs to add to the vs_tpg. When vhost_scsi_set_endpoint first finds tpgs to add to the vs_tpg array match=true, so we will do: vhost_vq_set_backend(vq, vs_tpg); ... kfree(vs->vs_tpg); vs->vs_tpg = vs_tpg; If vhost_scsi_set_endpoint is called again and no tpgs are found match=false so we skip the vhost_vq_set_backend call leaving the pointer to the vs_tpg we then free via: kfree(vs->vs_tpg); vs->vs_tpg = vs_tpg; If a scsi request is then sent we do: vhost_scsi_handle_vq -> vhost_scsi_get_req -> vhost_vq_get_backend which sees the vs_tpg we just did a kfree on. 2. Tpg dir removal hang: This patch fixes an issue where we cannot remove a LIO/target layer tpg (and structs above it like the target) dir due to the refcount dropping to -1. The problem is that if vhost_scsi_set_endpoint detects a tpg is already in the vs->vs_tpg array or if the tpg has been removed so target_depend_item fails, the undepend goto handler will do target_undepend_item on all tpgs in the vs_tpg array dropping their refcount to 0. At this time vs_tpg contains both the tpgs we have added in the current vhost_scsi_set_endpoint call as well as tpgs we added in previous calls which are also in vs->vs_tpg. Later, when vhost_scsi_clear_endpoint runs it will do target_undepend_item on all the tpgs in the vs->vs_tpg which will drop their refcount to -1. Userspace will then not be able to remove the tpg and will hang when it tries to do rmdir on the tpg dir. 3. Tpg leak: This fixes a bug where we can leak tpgs and cause them to be un-removable because the target name is overwritten when vhost_scsi_set_endpoint is called multiple times but with different target names. The bug occurs if a user has called VHOST_SCSI_SET_ENDPOINT and setup a vhost-scsi device to target/tpg mapping, then calls VHOST_SCSI_SET_ENDPOINT again with a new target name that has tpgs we haven't seen before (target1 has tpg1 but target2 has tpg2). When this happens we don't teardown the old target tpg mapping and just overwrite the target name and the vs->vs_tpg array. Later when we do vhost_scsi_clear_endpoint, we are passed in either target1 or target2's name and we will only match that target's tpgs when we loop over the vs->vs_tpg. We will then return from the function without doing target_undepend_item on the tpgs. Because of all these bugs, it looks like being able to call vhost_scsi_set_endpoint multiple times was never supported. The major user, QEMU, already has checks to prevent this use case. So to fix the issues, this patch prevents vhost_scsi_set_endpoint from being called if it's already successfully added tpgs. To add, remove or change the tpg config or target name, you must do a vhost_scsi_clear_endpoint first.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:11 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:12 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | No fix |
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | 6.12.25-1 |
| Linux | Kernel | 3.9.0 | 6.1.162 |
| Linux | Kernel | 3.9.0 | 6.6.87 |
| Mageia:9 | kernel | 0 | 6.6.88-3.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | kernel-linus | 0 | 6.6.88-1.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | kmod-virtualbox | 0 | 7.0.24-70.mga9 |
| Mageia:9 | kmod-xtables-addons | 0 | 3.24-78.mga9 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_13 | 0 | 1-150600.1.5.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_13 | 0 | 1-150600.13.6.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5.150600.12.26.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-coco | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-coco_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-source-coco | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-coco | 0 | 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5.150600.12.26.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.2 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 |
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