# CVE-2025-71236: scsi: qla2xxx: Validate sp before freeing associated memory

> A null pointer dereference in the qla2xxx SCSI driver causes a system crash, requiring a kernel patch to prevent denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 18 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-71236, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-71236, GHSA-f7pj-q7w5-89fg, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-71236, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-71236, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-71236, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-71236, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-71236

## What is CVE-2025-71236?

CVE-2025-71236 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Feb 2026. 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:

scsi: qla2xxx: Validate sp before freeing associated memory

System crash with the following signature
[154563.214890] nvme nvme2: NVME-FC{1}: controller connect complete
[154564.169363] qla2xxx [0000:b0:00.1]-3002:2: nvme: Sched: Set ZIO exchange threshold to 3.
[154564.169405] qla2xxx [0000:b0:00.1]-ffffff:2: SET ZIO Activity exchange threshold to 5.
[154565.539974] qla2xxx [0000:b0:00.1]-5013:2: RSCN database changed – 0078 0080 0000.
[154565.545744] qla2xxx [0000:b0:00.1]-5013:2: RSCN database changed – 0078 00a0 0000.
[154565.545857] qla2xxx [0000:b0:00.1]-11a2:2: FEC=enabled (data rate).
[154565.552760] qla2xxx [0000:b0:00.1]-11a2:2: FEC=enabled (data rate).
[154565.553079] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000f8
[154565.553080] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
[154565.553082] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
[154565.553084] PGD 80000010488ab067 P4D 80000010488ab067 PUD 104978a067 PMD 0
[154565.553089] Oops: 0000 1 PREEMPT SMP PTI
[154565.553092] CPU: 10 PID: 858 Comm: qla2xxx_2_dpc Kdump: loaded Tainted: G           OE     -------  ---  5.14.0-503.11.1.el9_5.x86_64 #1
[154565.553096] Hardware name: HPE Synergy 660 Gen10/Synergy 660 Gen10 Compute Module, BIOS I43 09/30/2024
[154565.553097] RIP: 0010:qla_fab_async_scan.part.0+0x40b/0x870 [qla2xxx]
[154565.553141] Code: 00 00 e8 58 a3 ec d4 49 89 e9 ba 12 20 00 00 4c 89 e6 49 c7 c0 00 ee a8 c0 48 c7 c1 66 c0 a9 c0 bf 00 80 00 10 e8 15 69 00 00 <4c> 8b 8d f8 00 00 00 4d 85 c9 74 35 49 8b 84 24 00 19 00 00 48 8b
[154565.553143] RSP: 0018:ffffb4dbc8aebdd0 EFLAGS: 00010286
[154565.553145] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff8ec2cf0908d0 RCX: 0000000000000002
[154565.553147] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffffffffc0a9c896 RDI: ffffb4dbc8aebd47
[154565.553148] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: ffffb4dbc8aebd45 R09: 0000000000ffff0a
[154565.553150] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 000000000000000f R12: ffff8ec2cf0908d0
[154565.553151] R13: ffff8ec2cf090900 R14: 0000000000000102 R15: ffff8ec2cf084000
[154565.553152] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8ed27f800000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[154565.553154] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[154565.553155] CR2: 00000000000000f8 CR3: 000000113ae0a005 CR4: 00000000007706f0
[154565.553157] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
[154565.553158] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
[154565.553159] PKRU: 55555554
[154565.553160] Call Trace:
[154565.553162]  <TASK>
[154565.553165]  ? show_trace_log_lvl+0x1c4/0x2df
[154565.553172]  ? show_trace_log_lvl+0x1c4/0x2df
[154565.553177]  ? qla_fab_async_scan.part.0+0x40b/0x870 [qla2xxx]
[154565.553215]  ? __die_body.cold+0x8/0xd
[154565.553218]  ? page_fault_oops+0x134/0x170
[154565.553223]  ? snprintf+0x49/0x70
[154565.553229]  ? exc_page_fault+0x62/0x150
[154565.553238]  ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30

Check for sp being non NULL before freeing any associated memory

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71236?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-71236?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-71236 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71236 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-2025-71236 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-71236 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 18 Feb 2026. 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-2025-71236 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-2025-71236/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71236/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71236
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71236
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-71236

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71236/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.