# CVE-2025-40257: mptcp: fix a race in mptcp_pm_del_add_timer()

> A race condition in the Linux kernel MPTCP module allows a use-after-free, potentially leading to system crashes or arbitrary code execution.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 4 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-71372, BELL-CVE-2025-40257, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40257, GHSA-q4wq-g3wm-gmfc, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-40257, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-40257, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-40257, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-40257, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40257

## What is CVE-2025-40257?

CVE-2025-40257 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 4 Dec 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mptcp: fix a race in mptcp_pm_del_add_timer()

mptcp_pm_del_add_timer() can call sk_stop_timer_sync(sk, &entry->add_timer)
while another might have free entry already, as reported by syzbot.

Add RCU protection to fix this issue.

Also change confusing add_timer variable with stop_timer boolean.

syzbot report:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __timer_delete_sync+0x372/0x3f0 kernel/time/timer.c:1616
Read of size 4 at addr ffff8880311e4150 by task kworker/1:1/44

CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 44 Comm: kworker/1:1 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT_{RT,(full)}
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/02/2025
Workqueue: events mptcp_worker
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
  dump_stack_lvl+0x189/0x250 lib/dump_stack.c:120
  print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline]
  print_report+0xca/0x240 mm/kasan/report.c:482
  kasan_report+0x118/0x150 mm/kasan/report.c:595
  __timer_delete_sync+0x372/0x3f0 kernel/time/timer.c:1616
  sk_stop_timer_sync+0x1b/0x90 net/core/sock.c:3631
  mptcp_pm_del_add_timer+0x283/0x310 net/mptcp/pm.c:362
  mptcp_incoming_options+0x1357/0x1f60 net/mptcp/options.c:1174
  tcp_data_queue+0xca/0x6450 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:5361
  tcp_rcv_established+0x1335/0x2670 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:6441
  tcp_v4_do_rcv+0x98b/0xbf0 net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1931
  tcp_v4_rcv+0x252a/0x2dc0 net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:2374
  ip_protocol_deliver_rcu+0x221/0x440 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:205
  ip_local_deliver_finish+0x3bb/0x6f0 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:239
  NF_HOOK+0x30c/0x3a0 include/linux/netfilter.h:318
  NF_HOOK+0x30c/0x3a0 include/linux/netfilter.h:318
  __netif_receive_skb_one_core net/core/dev.c:6079 [inline]
  __netif_receive_skb+0x143/0x380 net/core/dev.c:6192
  process_backlog+0x31e/0x900 net/core/dev.c:6544
  __napi_poll+0xb6/0x540 net/core/dev.c:7594
  napi_poll net/core/dev.c:7657 [inline]
  net_rx_action+0x5f7/0xda0 net/core/dev.c:7784
  handle_softirqs+0x22f/0x710 kernel/softirq.c:622
  __do_softirq kernel/softirq.c:656 [inline]
  __local_bh_enable_ip+0x1a0/0x2e0 kernel/softirq.c:302
  mptcp_pm_send_ack net/mptcp/pm.c:210 [inline]
 mptcp_pm_addr_send_ack+0x41f/0x500 net/mptcp/pm.c:-1
  mptcp_pm_worker+0x174/0x320 net/mptcp/pm.c:1002
  mptcp_worker+0xd5/0x1170 net/mptcp/protocol.c:2762
  process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3263 [inline]
  process_scheduled_works+0xae1/0x17b0 kernel/workqueue.c:3346
  worker_thread+0x8a0/0xda0 kernel/workqueue.c:3427
  kthread+0x711/0x8a0 kernel/kthread.c:463
  ret_from_fork+0x4bc/0x870 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245
 </TASK>

Allocated by task 44:
  kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:56 [inline]
  kasan_save_track+0x3e/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:77
  poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:400 [inline]
  __kasan_kmalloc+0x93/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:417
  kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:262 [inline]
  __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x1ef/0x6c0 mm/slub.c:5748
  kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:957 [inline]
  mptcp_pm_alloc_anno_list+0x104/0x460 net/mptcp/pm.c:385
  mptcp_pm_create_subflow_or_signal_addr+0xf9d/0x1360 net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:355
  mptcp_pm_nl_fully_established net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:409 [inline]
  __mptcp_pm_kernel_worker+0x417/0x1ef0 net/mptcp/pm_kernel.c:1529
  mptcp_pm_worker+0x1ee/0x320 net/mptcp/pm.c:1008
  mptcp_worker+0xd5/0x1170 net/mptcp/protocol.c:2762
  process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3263 [inline]
  process_scheduled_works+0xae1/0x17b0 kernel/workqueue.c:3346
  worker_thread+0x8a0/0xda0 kernel/workqueue.c:3427
  kthread+0x711/0x8a0 kernel/kthread.c:463
  ret_from_fork+0x4bc/0x870 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158
  ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245

Freed by task 6630:
  kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:56 [inline]
  kasan_save_track+0x3e/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:77
  __kasan_save_free_info+0x46/0x50 mm/kasan/generic.c:587
  kasan_save_free_info mm/kasan/kasan.h:406 [inline]
  poison_slab_object m
---truncated---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-40257?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-40257?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-40257 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40257 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-40257 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-40257 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 4 Dec 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40257 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2025-40257/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40257/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-40257
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-40257
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-40257

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40257/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.