# CVE-2025-22024: nfsd: fix management of listener transports

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel NFS server allows a root user to trigger memory corruption, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Apr 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-22024, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-22024, GHSA-6cvc-553h-v3j8, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-22024

## What is CVE-2025-22024?

CVE-2025-22024 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 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:

nfsd: fix management of listener transports

Currently, when no active threads are running, a root user using nfsdctl
command can try to remove a particular listener from the list of previously
added ones, then start the server by increasing the number of threads,
it leads to the following problem:

[  158.835354] refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free.
[  158.835603] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 9145 at lib/refcount.c:25 refcount_warn_saturate+0x160/0x1a0
[  158.836017] Modules linked in: rpcrdma rdma_cm iw_cm ib_cm ib_core nfsd auth_rpcgss nfs_acl lockd grace overlay isofs uinput snd_seq_dummy snd_hrtimer nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 rfkill ip_set nf_tables qrtr sunrpc vfat fat uvcvideo videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops uvc videobuf2_v4l2 videodev videobuf2_common snd_hda_codec_generic mc e1000e snd_hda_intel snd_intel_dspcfg snd_hda_codec snd_hda_core snd_hwdep snd_seq snd_seq_device snd_pcm snd_timer snd soundcore sg loop dm_multipath dm_mod nfnetlink vsock_loopback vmw_vsock_virtio_transport_common vmw_vsock_vmci_transport vmw_vmci vsock xfs libcrc32c crct10dif_ce ghash_ce vmwgfx sha2_ce sha256_arm64 sr_mod sha1_ce cdrom nvme drm_client_lib drm_ttm_helper ttm nvme_core drm_kms_helper nvme_auth drm fuse
[  158.840093] CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 9145 Comm: nfsd Kdump: loaded Tainted: G    B   W          6.13.0-rc6+ #7
[  158.840624] Tainted: [B]=BAD_PAGE, [W]=WARN
[  158.840802] Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware20,1/VBSA, BIOS VMW201.00V.24006586.BA64.2406042154 06/04/2024
[  158.841220] pstate: 61400005 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
[  158.841563] pc : refcount_warn_saturate+0x160/0x1a0
[  158.841780] lr : refcount_warn_saturate+0x160/0x1a0
[  158.842000] sp : ffff800089be7d80
[  158.842147] x29: ffff800089be7d80 x28: ffff00008e68c148 x27: ffff00008e68c148
[  158.842492] x26: ffff0002e3b5c000 x25: ffff600011cd1829 x24: ffff00008653c010
[  158.842832] x23: ffff00008653c000 x22: 1fffe00011cd1829 x21: ffff00008653c028
[  158.843175] x20: 0000000000000002 x19: ffff00008653c010 x18: 0000000000000000
[  158.843505] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000000
[  158.843836] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000001 x12: ffff600050a26493
[  158.844143] x11: 1fffe00050a26492 x10: ffff600050a26492 x9 : dfff800000000000
[  158.844475] x8 : 00009fffaf5d9b6e x7 : ffff000285132493 x6 : 0000000000000001
[  158.844823] x5 : ffff000285132490 x4 : ffff600050a26493 x3 : ffff8000805e72bc
[  158.845174] x2 : 0000000000000000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff000098588000
[  158.845528] Call trace:
[  158.845658]  refcount_warn_saturate+0x160/0x1a0 (P)
[  158.845894]  svc_recv+0x58c/0x680 [sunrpc]
[  158.846183]  nfsd+0x1fc/0x348 [nfsd]
[  158.846390]  kthread+0x274/0x2f8
[  158.846546]  ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
[  158.846714] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

nfsd_nl_listener_set_doit() would manipulate the list of transports of
server's sv_permsocks and close the specified listener but the other
list of transports (server's sp_xprts list) would not be changed leading
to the problem above.

Instead, determined if the nfsdctl is trying to remove a listener, in
which case, delete all the existing listener transports and re-create
all-but-the-removed ones.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-22024?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-22024?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-22024 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-22024 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-22024 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-22024 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Apr 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-22024 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22024/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22024/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-22024
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22024
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-22024

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22024/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
