# CVE-2026-52925: vrf: Fix a potential NPD when removing a port from a VRF

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash by removing a network port from a VRF, causing a null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel.

- **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:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-52925, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-52925, GHSA-vg8w-8f3p-9p3c, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-52925, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-52925, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-52925, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-52925, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-52925

## What is CVE-2026-52925?

CVE-2026-52925 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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:

vrf: Fix a potential NPD when removing a port from a VRF

RCU readers that identified a net device as a VRF port using
netif_is_l3_slave() assume that a subsequent call to
netdev_master_upper_dev_get_rcu() will return a VRF device. They then
continue to dereference its l3mdev operations.

This assumption is not always correct and can result in a NPD [1]. There
is no RCU synchronization when removing a port from a VRF, so it is
possible for an RCU reader to see a new master device (e.g., a bridge)
that does not have l3mdev operations.

Fix by adding RCU synchronization after clearing the IFF_L3MDEV_SLAVE
flag. Skip this synchronization when a net device is removed from a VRF
as part of its deletion and when the VRF device itself is deleted. In
the latter case an RCU grace period will pass by the time RTNL is
released.

[1]
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
[...]
RIP: 0010:l3mdev_fib_table_rcu (net/l3mdev/l3mdev.c:181)
[...]
Call Trace:
<TASK>
l3mdev_fib_table_by_index (net/l3mdev/l3mdev.c:201 net/l3mdev/l3mdev.c:189)
__inet_bind (net/ipv4/af_inet.c:499 (discriminator 3))
inet_bind_sk (net/ipv4/af_inet.c:469)
__sys_bind (./include/linux/file.h:62 (discriminator 1) ./include/linux/file.h:83 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:1951 (discriminator 1))
__x64_sys_bind (net/socket.c:1969 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:1967 (discriminator 1) net/socket.c:1967 (discriminator 1))
do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 (discriminator 1) arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 (discriminator 1))
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:130)

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-52925?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-52925?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-52925 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-52925 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-2026-52925 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-52925 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 Jun 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-2026-52925 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-2026-52925/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52925/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-52925
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-52925
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-52925

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-52925/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.