Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2025-22109

High · 7.8

CVSS

7.8

EPSS

0.3%

Published

Apr 16, 2025

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A flaw in the Linux kernel's handling of certain radio network sockets could leak memory over time and may cause older software that used an automatic binding shortcut to stop working after the fix.

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

What it actually does

Broken autobind logic in AX25 socket handling performs kmemdup without corresponding refcount increments during ax25_connect and fails to properly manage netdev references in ax25_release, resulting in memory leaks and refcount underflows.

Why it matters to the business

Systems relying on AX25 packet radio networking may experience gradual memory exhaustion or kernel warnings; the feature removal may break legacy userspace applications that depended on implicit binding, though such usage is rare and already unreliable.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker opens an AF_AX25 socket, invokes connect without a prior bind to trigger the defective autobind path in ax25_rt_autobind, then closes the socket to exercise the refcount leak in ax25_release, potentially leading to resource exhaustion or triggering warnings; the listed threat actors and privilege-escalation CVEs illustrate broader kernel memory-corruption patterns but are not directly tied to this AX25 flaw.

How to fix it

Upgrade affected Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernels to the fixed versions 2.6.18-371.8.1.el5 or later for all listed kernel, kernel-PAE, kernel-debug, kernel-devel, kernel-headers, kernel-kdump, kernel-xen and related packages on both client and server variants; after upgrade, recompile or reconfigure any AX25-dependent applications to explicitly call bind before connect.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm kernel version is at or above the listed fixed releases; attempt connect on an unbound AX25 socket and verify it now returns -EINVAL instead of proceeding with autobind; monitor kmemleak and refcount warnings during AX25 socket lifecycle testing.

Typical attack path

  1. Create AF_AX25 socket via socket()
  2. Call connect() without prior bind to invoke autobind
  3. Trigger ax25_connect memory allocation leak
  4. Close socket to trigger refcount decrement in ax25_release
  5. Repeat to amplify memory or refcount issues

How to detect it

Review kernel logs for refcount_warn_saturate warnings mentioning ax25_release or ax25_connect; inspect kmemleak reports for objects allocated from ax25_rt_autobind; search process and socket creation logs for unexpected AF_AX25 usage without preceding bind calls.

What your security team should do

  • Apply the 2.6.18-371.8.1.el5 kernel updates immediately on all RHEL 5 systems using AX25
  • Audit and update any custom AX25 applications to perform explicit bind before connect
  • Disable AX25 interfaces if not required
  • Monitor EPSS trend and kernel memory usage for AX25 workloads

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ax25: Remove broken autobind Binding AX25 socket by using the autobind feature leads to memory leaks in ax25_connect() and also refcount leaks in ax25_release(). Memory leak was detected with kmemleak: ================================================================ unreferenced object 0xffff8880253cd680 (size 96): backtrace: __kmalloc_node_track_caller_noprof (./include/linux/kmemleak.h:43) kmemdup_noprof (mm/util.c:136) ax25_rt_autobind (net/ax25/ax25_route.c:428) ax25_connect (net/ax25/af_ax25.c:1282) __sys_connect_file (net/socket.c:2045) __sys_connect (net/socket.c:2064) __x64_sys_connect (net/socket.c:2067) do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83) entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130) ================================================================ When socket is bound, refcounts must be incremented the way it is done in ax25_bind() and ax25_setsockopt() (SO_BINDTODEVICE). In case of autobind, the refcounts are not incremented. This bug leads to the following issue reported by Syzkaller: ================================================================ ax25_connect(): syz-executor318 uses autobind, please contact jreuter@yaina.de ------------[ cut here ]------------ refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory. WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 5317 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0xfa/0x1d0 lib/refcount.c:31 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5317 Comm: syz-executor318 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc4-syzkaller-00278-gece144f151ac #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xfa/0x1d0 lib/refcount.c:31 ... Call Trace: <TASK> __refcount_dec include/linux/refcount.h:336 [inline] refcount_dec include/linux/refcount.h:351 [inline] ref_tracker_free+0x6af/0x7e0 lib/ref_tracker.c:236 netdev_tracker_free include/linux/netdevice.h:4302 [inline] netdev_put include/linux/netdevice.h:4319 [inline] ax25_release+0x368/0x960 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:1080 __sock_release net/socket.c:647 [inline] sock_close+0xbc/0x240 net/socket.c:1398 __fput+0x3e9/0x9f0 fs/file_table.c:464 __do_sys_close fs/open.c:1580 [inline] __se_sys_close fs/open.c:1565 [inline] __x64_sys_close+0x7f/0x110 fs/open.c:1565 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f ... </TASK> ================================================================ Considering the issues above and the comments left in the code that say: "check if we can remove this feature. It is broken."; "autobinding in this may or may not work"; - it is better to completely remove this feature than to fix it because it is broken and leads to various kinds of memory bugs. Now calling connect() without first binding socket will result in an error (-EINVAL). Userspace software that relies on the autobind feature might get broken. However, this feature does not seem widely used with this specific driver as it was not reliable at any point of time, and it is already broken anyway. E.g. ax25-tools and ax25-apps packages for popular distributions do not use the autobind feature for AF_AX25. Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Chainguard hyperv-daemons-6.12 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-aws-6.12-boot-installed 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-aws-6.12-fips-boot-installed 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-aws-6.12-headers 0 6.12.57-r1
Chainguard linux-aws-6.12-modules 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-azure-6.12-boot-installed 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-azure-6.12-fips-boot-installed 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-azure-6.12-headers 0 6.12.57-r1
Chainguard linux-azure-6.12-modules 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-gcp-6.12-boot-installed 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-gcp-6.12-fips-boot-installed 0 6.12.57-r0
Chainguard linux-gcp-6.12-headers 0 6.12.57-r1
Chainguard linux-gcp-6.12-modules 0 6.12.57-r1
Chainguard linux-qemu-6.12-boot-installed 0 6.12.63-r0
Chainguard linux-qemu-6.12-fips-boot-installed 0 6.12.63-r0
Chainguard linux-qemu-6.12-headers 0 6.12.63-r0
Chainguard linux-qemu-6.12-modules 0 6.12.63-r0
Chainguard linux-vmware-6.12-boot-installed 0 6.12.63-r0
Chainguard linux-vmware-6.12-fips-boot-installed 0 6.12.63-r0
Chainguard linux-vmware-6.12-headers 0 6.12.63-r0
Chainguard linux-vmware-6.12-modules 0 6.12.63-r0
Debian:11 linux 0 No fix
Debian:12 linux 0 No fix
Debian:13 linux 0 No fix
Debian:14 linux 0 6.16.3-1
Linux Kernel 2.6.12 6.14.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_11 0 1-150600.1.3.2
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_11 0 1-150600.13.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_1 0 1-150700.15.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1.150600.12.22.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1.150700.17.2.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-coco_debug 0 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-source-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Confidential Computing Technical Preview 15 SP6 kernel-syms-coco 0 6.4.0-15061.21.coco15sp6.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP7 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.37.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.37.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.37.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150700.20.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150700.20.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150700.20.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150700.53.3.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 dtb-aarch64 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-64kb 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.37.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-debug 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-default-base 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1.150600.12.22.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-docs 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-kvmsmall 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-build 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-obs-qa 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-rt_debug 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.37.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-source-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms-azure 0 6.4.0-150600.8.37.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-syms-rt 0 6.4.0-150600.10.39.1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6 kernel-zfcpdump 0 6.4.0-150600.23.50.1

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