GHSA-4FXR-V6JM-9J9M
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-12-04 18:30 – Updated: 2025-12-04 18:30In 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: 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: 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
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-40251"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2025-12-04T16:16:18Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\ndevlink: rate: Unset parent pointer in devl_rate_nodes_destroy\n\nThe function devl_rate_nodes_destroy is documented to \"Unset parent for\nall rate objects\". However, it was only calling the driver-specific\n`rate_leaf_parent_set` or `rate_node_parent_set` ops and decrementing\nthe parent\u0027s refcount, without actually setting the\n`devlink_rate-\u003eparent` pointer to NULL.\n\nThis leaves a dangling pointer in the `devlink_rate` struct, which cause\nrefcount error in netdevsim[1] and mlx5[2]. In addition, this is\ninconsistent with the behavior of `devlink_nl_rate_parent_node_set`,\nwhere the parent pointer is correctly cleared.\n\nThis patch fixes the issue by explicitly setting `devlink_rate-\u003eparent`\nto NULL after notifying the driver, thus fulfilling the function\u0027s\ndocumented behavior for all rate objects.\n\n[1]\nrepro steps:\necho 1 \u003e /sys/bus/netdevsim/new_device\ndevlink dev eswitch set netdevsim/netdevsim1 mode switchdev\necho 1 \u003e /sys/bus/netdevsim/devices/netdevsim1/sriov_numvfs\ndevlink port function rate add netdevsim/netdevsim1/test_node\ndevlink port function rate set netdevsim/netdevsim1/128 parent test_node\necho 1 \u003e /sys/bus/netdevsim/del_device\n\ndmesg:\nrefcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory.\nWARNING: CPU: 8 PID: 1530 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0\nCPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 1530 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.18.0-rc4+ #1 NONE\nHardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014\nRIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0\nCall Trace:\n \u003cTASK\u003e\n devl_rate_leaf_destroy+0x8d/0x90\n __nsim_dev_port_del+0x6c/0x70 [netdevsim]\n nsim_dev_reload_destroy+0x11c/0x140 [netdevsim]\n nsim_drv_remove+0x2b/0xb0 [netdevsim]\n device_release_driver_internal+0x194/0x1f0\n bus_remove_device+0xc6/0x130\n device_del+0x159/0x3c0\n device_unregister+0x1a/0x60\n del_device_store+0x111/0x170 [netdevsim]\n kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12e/0x1e0\n vfs_write+0x215/0x3d0\n ksys_write+0x5f/0xd0\n do_syscall_64+0x55/0x10f0\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53\n\n[2]\ndevlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:08:00.0 mode switchdev\ndevlink port add pci/0000:08:00.0 flavour pcisf pfnum 0 sfnum 1000\ndevlink port function rate add pci/0000:08:00.0/group1\ndevlink port function rate set pci/0000:08:00.0/32768 parent group1\nmodprobe -r mlx5_ib mlx5_fwctl mlx5_core\n\ndmesg:\nrefcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory.\nWARNING: CPU: 7 PID: 16151 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0\nCPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 16151 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.17.0-rc7_for_upstream_min_debug_2025_10_02_12_44 #1 NONE\nHardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014\nRIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0\nCall Trace:\n \u003cTASK\u003e\n devl_rate_leaf_destroy+0x8d/0x90\n mlx5_esw_offloads_devlink_port_unregister+0x33/0x60 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_esw_offloads_unload_rep+0x3f/0x50 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_eswitch_unload_sf_vport+0x40/0x90 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_sf_esw_event+0xc4/0x120 [mlx5_core]\n notifier_call_chain+0x33/0xa0\n blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x3b/0x50\n mlx5_eswitch_disable_locked+0x50/0x110 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_eswitch_disable+0x63/0x90 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_unload+0x1d/0x170 [mlx5_core]\n mlx5_uninit_one+0xa2/0x130 [mlx5_core]\n remove_one+0x78/0xd0 [mlx5_core]\n pci_device_remove+0x39/0xa0\n device_release_driver_internal+0x194/0x1f0\n unbind_store+0x99/0xa0\n kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12e/0x1e0\n vfs_write+0x215/0x3d0\n ksys_write+0x5f/0xd0\n do_syscall_64+0x53/0x1f0\n entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53",
"id": "GHSA-4fxr-v6jm-9j9m",
"modified": "2025-12-04T18:30:53Z",
"published": "2025-12-04T18:30:53Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-40251"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/542f45486f1ce2d2dde75bd85aca0389ef7046c3"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/715d9cda646a8a38ea8b2bb5afb679a7464055e2"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c70df6c17d389cc743f0eb30160e2d6bc6910db8"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f94c1a114ac209977bdf5ca841b98424295ab1f0"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
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