CVE-2025-22005 ipv6: Fix memleak of nhc_pcpu_rth_output in fib_check_nh_v6_gw().
A memory leak in the Linux kernel IPv6 routing code allows attackers to exhaust system memory, causing denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-22005?
CVE-2025-22005 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 3 Apr 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ipv6: Fix memleak of nhc_pcpu_rth_output in fib_check_nh_v6_gw().
fib_check_nh_v6_gw() expects that fib6_nh_init() cleans up everything when it fails.
Commit 7dd73168e273 ("ipv6: Always allocate pcpu memory in a fib6_nh") moved fib_nh_common_init() before alloc_percpu_gfp() within fib6_nh_init() but forgot to add cleanup for fib6_nh->nh_common.nhc_pcpu_rth_output in case it fails to allocate fib6_nh->rt6i_pcpu, resulting in memleak.
Let's call fib_nh_common_release() and clear nhc_pcpu_rth_output in the error path.
Note that we can remove the fib6_nh_release() call in nh_create_ipv6() later in net-next.git.
Weakness: CWE-401
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-22005?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-22005?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2025-22005 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-22005 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-59879, BELL-CVE-2025-22005, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-22005, GHSA-7j34-4m8p-353w, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-22005, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-22005.