Vulnerability · Published Jul 10, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2025-38271net: prevent a NULL deref in rtnl_create_link()

Medium 5.5

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 5% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS NVD)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 94.7% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: prevent a NULL deref in rtnl_create_link() At the time rtnl_create_link() is running, dev->netdev_ops is NULL, we must not use netdev_lock_ops() or risk a NULL deref if CONFIG_NET_SHAPER is defined. Use netif_set_group() instead of dev_set_group(). RIP: 0010:netdev_need_ops_lock include/net/netdev_lock.h:33 [inline] RIP: 0010:netdev_lock_ops include/net/netdev_lock.h:41 [inline] RIP: 0010:dev_set_group+0xc0/0x230 net/core/dev_api.c:82 Call Trace: <TASK> rtnl_create_link+0x748/0xd10 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3674 rtnl_newlink_create+0x25c/0xb00 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3813 __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3940 [inline] rtnl_newlink+0x16d6/0x1c70 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4055 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x7cf/0xb70 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6944 netlink_rcv_skb+0x208/0x470 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2534 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1313 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x75b/0x8d0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1339 netlink_sendmsg+0x805/0xb30 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1883 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:712 [inline]

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38271

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 7e4d784f5810bba76c4593791028e13cce4af547 – before 8a29ae8428a5c26f0b4471c2057d9e9415c531097e4d784f5810bba76c4593791028e13cce4af547 – before feafc73f3e6ae73371777a037d41d2e31c929636
Linux Linux 6.15

References