CVE-2025-71285 net: qrtr: Drop the MHI auto_queue feature for IPCR DL channels
A race condition in the Linux kernel QRTR driver can cause a NULL pointer dereference, leading to a system crash or denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2025-71285?
CVE-2025-71285 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 6 May 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:
net: qrtr: Drop the MHI auto_queue feature for IPCR DL channels
MHI stack offers the 'auto_queue' feature, which allows the MHI stack to auto queue the buffers for the RX path (DL channel). Though this feature simplifies the client driver design, it introduces race between the client drivers and the MHI stack. For instance, with auto_queue, the 'dl_callback' for the DL channel may get called before the client driver is fully probed. This means, by the time the dl_callback gets called, the client driver's structures might not be initialized, leading to NULL ptr dereference.
Currently, the drivers have to workaround this issue by initializing the internal structures before calling mhi_prepare_for_transfer_autoqueue(). But even so, there is a chance that the client driver's internal code path may call the MHI queue APIs before mhi_prepare_for_transfer_autoqueue() is called, leading to similar NULL ptr dereference. This issue has been reported on the Qcom X1E80100 CRD machines affecting boot.
So to properly fix all these races, drop the MHI 'auto_queue' feature altogether and let the client driver (QRTR) manage the RX buffers manually. In the QRTR driver, queue the RX buffers based on the ring length during probe and recycle the buffers in 'dl_callback' once they are consumed. This also warrants removing the setting of 'auto_queue' flag from controller drivers.
Currently, this 'auto_queue' feature is only enabled for IPCR DL channel. So only the QRTR client driver requires the modification.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71285?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-71285?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-71285 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71285 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-85826, BELL-CVE-2025-71285, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-71285, GHSA-7g25-3chf-ppwr, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-71285, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-71285 and 3 more.