# CVE-2025-22116: idpf: check error for register_netdev() on init

> A missing error check in the idpf driver causes a kernel warning and potential crash when unregistering a failed network device.

- **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-2025-22116, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-22116, GHSA-whxm-hh66-2gfx, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-22116, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-22116, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-22116

## What is CVE-2025-22116?

CVE-2025-22116 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:

idpf: check error for register_netdev() on init

Current init logic ignores the error code from register_netdev(),
which will cause WARN_ON() on attempt to unregister it, if there was one,
and there is no info for the user that the creation of the netdev failed.

WARNING: CPU: 89 PID: 6902 at net/core/dev.c:11512 unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x211/0x1a10
...
[ 3707.563641]  unregister_netdev+0x1c/0x30
[ 3707.563656]  idpf_vport_dealloc+0x5cf/0xce0 [idpf]
[ 3707.563684]  idpf_deinit_task+0xef/0x160 [idpf]
[ 3707.563712]  idpf_vc_core_deinit+0x84/0x320 [idpf]
[ 3707.563739]  idpf_remove+0xbf/0x780 [idpf]
[ 3707.563769]  pci_device_remove+0xab/0x1e0
[ 3707.563786]  device_release_driver_internal+0x371/0x530
[ 3707.563803]  driver_detach+0xbf/0x180
[ 3707.563816]  bus_remove_driver+0x11b/0x2a0
[ 3707.563829]  pci_unregister_driver+0x2a/0x250

Introduce an error check and log the vport number and error code.
On removal make sure to check VPORT_REG_NETDEV flag prior to calling
unregister and free on the netdev.

Add local variables for idx, vport_config and netdev for readability.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-22116?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-22116?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-22116 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-22116 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-2025-22116 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-22116 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-2025-22116 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-2025-22116/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22116/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-22116
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22116
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-22116

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22116/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.