# CVE-2025-22050: usbnet:fix NPE during rx_complete

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's usbnet driver causes a NULL pointer dereference, leading to a kernel panic and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-22050, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-22050, GHSA-w6v4-56gc-2jmg, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-22050, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-22050

## What is CVE-2025-22050?

CVE-2025-22050 is a medium-severity 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:

usbnet:fix NPE during rx_complete

Missing usbnet_going_away Check in Critical Path.
The usb_submit_urb function lacks a usbnet_going_away
validation, whereas __usbnet_queue_skb includes this check.

This inconsistency creates a race condition where:
A URB request may succeed, but the corresponding SKB data
fails to be queued.

Subsequent processes:
(e.g., rx_complete → defer_bh → __skb_unlink(skb, list))
attempt to access skb->next, triggering a NULL pointer
dereference (Kernel Panic).

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-22050?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-22050?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-22050 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-22050 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-2025-22050 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-22050 is a medium-severity 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-2025-22050 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-2025-22050/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22050/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-22050
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22050
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-22050

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22050/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.