# CVE-2025-71233: PCI: endpoint: Avoid creating sub-groups asynchronously

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash via a race condition in PCI endpoint configfs operations, causing denial of service.

- **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:** 18 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77951, BELL-CVE-2025-71233, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-71233, GHSA-78xc-39m5-v2c6, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-71233, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-71233, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-71233, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-71233, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-71233

## What is CVE-2025-71233?

CVE-2025-71233 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Feb 2026. 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:

PCI: endpoint: Avoid creating sub-groups asynchronously

The asynchronous creation of sub-groups by a delayed work could lead to a
NULL pointer dereference when the driver directory is removed before the
work completes.

The crash can be easily reproduced with the following commands:

  # cd /sys/kernel/config/pci_ep/functions/pci_epf_test
  # for i in {1..20}; do mkdir test && rmdir test; done

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000088
  ...
  Call Trace:
   configfs_register_group+0x3d/0x190
   pci_epf_cfs_work+0x41/0x110
   process_one_work+0x18f/0x350
   worker_thread+0x25a/0x3a0

Fix this issue by using configfs_add_default_group() API which does not
have the deadlock problem as configfs_register_group() and does not require
the delayed work handler.

[mani: slightly reworded the description and added stable list]

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71233?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-71233?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-71233 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71233 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-2025-71233 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-71233 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Feb 2026. 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-2025-71233 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-2025-71233/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71233/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71233
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71233
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-71233

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71233/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.