CVE-2025-40186

  • Published: 2025-11-12T22:15:45.443

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

tcp: Don’t call reqsk_fastopen_remove() in tcp_conn_request().

syzbot reported the splat below in tcp_conn_request(). [0]

If a listener is close()d while a TFO socket is being processed in
tcp_conn_request(), inet_csk_reqsk_queue_add() does not set reqsk->sk
and calls inet_child_forget(), which calls tcp_disconnect() for the
TFO socket.

After the cited commit, tcp_disconnect() calls reqsk_fastopen_remove(),
where reqsk_put() is called due to !reqsk->sk.

Then, reqsk_fastopen_remove() in tcp_conn_request() decrements the
last req->rsk_refcnt and frees reqsk, and __reqsk_free() at the
drop_and_free label causes the refcount underflow for the listener
and double-free of the reqsk.

Let’s remove reqsk_fastopen_remove() in tcp_conn_request().

Note that other callers make sure tp->fastopen_rsk is not NULL.

[0]:
refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.
WARNING: CPU: 12 PID: 5563 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate (lib/refcount.c:28)
Modules linked in:
CPU: 12 UID: 0 PID: 5563 Comm: syz-executor Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full)
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 07/12/2025
RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate (lib/refcount.c:28)
Code: ab e8 8e b4 98 ff 0f 0b c3 cc cc cc cc cc 80 3d a4 e4 d6 01 00 75 9c c6 05 9b e4 d6 01 01 48 c7 c7 e8 df fb ab e8 6a b4 98 ff 0b e9 03 5b 76 00 cc 80 3d 7d e4 d6 01 00 0f 85 74 ff ff ff c6
RSP: 0018:ffffa79fc0304a98 EFLAGS: 00010246
RAX: d83af4db1c6b3900 RBX: ffff9f65c7a69020 RCX: d83af4db1c6b3900
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 00000000ffff7fff RDI: ffffffffac78a280
RBP: 000000009d781b60 R08: 0000000000007fff R09: ffffffffac6ca280
R10: 0000000000017ffd R11: 0000000000000004 R12: ffff9f65c7b4f100
R13: ffff9f65c7d23c00 R14: ffff9f65c7d26000 R15: ffff9f65c7a64ef8
FS: 00007f9f962176c0(0000) GS:ffff9f65fcf00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 0000200000000180 CR3: 000000000dbbe006 CR4: 0000000000372ef0
Call Trace:

tcp_conn_request (./include/linux/refcount.h:400 ./include/linux/refcount.h:432 ./include/linux/refcount.h:450 ./include/net/sock.h:1965 ./include/net/request_sock.h:131 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:7301)
tcp_rcv_state_process (net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:6708)
tcp_v6_do_rcv (net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c:1670)
tcp_v6_rcv (net/ipv6/tcp_ipv6.c:1906)
ip6_protocol_deliver_rcu (net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:438)
ip6_input (net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:500)
ipv6_rcv (net/ipv6/ip6_input.c:311)
__netif_receive_skb (net/core/dev.c:6104)
process_backlog (net/core/dev.c:6456)
__napi_poll (net/core/dev.c:7506)
net_rx_action (net/core/dev.c:7569 net/core/dev.c:7696)
handle_softirqs (kernel/softirq.c:579)
do_softirq (kernel/softirq.c:480)

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How to fix CVE-2025-40186

CVE-2025-40186 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: Don’t call reqsk_fastopen_remove() in tcp_conn_request(). syzbot reported the splat below in tcp_conn_request(). [0] If a listener is close()d while a TFO socket is being processed in tcp_conn_request(), inet_csk_reqsk_queue_add() does not set reqsk->sk and calls inet_child_forget(), which calls tcp_disconnect() for the TFO socket. After the […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Nov 12, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.