{"id":"CVE-2025-68245","title":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing incorrect cleanup\n\ncommit efa95b01da18 (\"netpoll: fix use after free\") incorrectly\nignored the refcount and premat…","summary":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing incorrect cleanup\n\ncommit efa95b01da18 (\"netpoll: fix use after free\") incorrectly\nignored the refcount and premat…","severity":"none","published":"2025-12-16","updated":"2026-10-14","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-14T13:10:00.187","source":"NVD","sourceUrl":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68245","references":[{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/49c8d2c1f94cc2f4d1a108530d7ba52614b874c2","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4afd4ebbad52aa146838ec23082ba393e426a2bb","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/890472d6fbf062e6de7fdd56642cb305ab79d669","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e6a50edad11e3e1426e4c29e7aa6201f3468ac2","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a51b5ccd1c79afec1c03a4e1e6688da52597556","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b0bb18b4b9dc017c1825a2c5e763615e34a1593","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c645693180a98606c430825223d2029315d85e9d","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"},{"url":"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c79a6d9da29219616b118a3adce9a14cd30f9bd0","label":"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"}],"tags":["nvd"],"epss":0.00201,"epssPercentile":0.09297,"ingestedAt":"2026-10-14T13:30:58.465Z","slug":"CVE-2025-68245","body":"## Overview\n\nIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnet: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing incorrect cleanup\n\ncommit efa95b01da18 (\"netpoll: fix use after free\") incorrectly\nignored the refcount and prematurely set dev->npinfo to NULL during\nnetpoll cleanup, leading to improper behavior and memory leaks.\n\nScenario causing lack of proper cleanup:\n\n1) A netpoll is associated with a NIC (e.g., eth0) and netdev->npinfo is\n   allocated, and refcnt = 1\n   - Keep in mind that npinfo is shared among all netpoll instances. In\n     this case, there is just one.\n\n2) Another netpoll is also associated with the same NIC and\n   npinfo->refcnt += 1.\n   - Now dev->npinfo->refcnt = 2;\n   - There is just one npinfo associated to the netdev.\n\n3) When the first netpolls goes to clean up:\n   - The first cleanup succeeds and clears np->dev->npinfo, ignoring\n     refcnt.\n     - It basically calls `RCU_INIT_POINTER(np->dev->npinfo, NULL);`\n   - Set dev->npinfo = NULL, without proper cleanup\n   - No ->ndo_netpoll_cleanup() is either called\n\n4) Now the second target tries to clean up\n   - The second cleanup fails because np->dev->npinfo is already NULL.\n     * In this case, ops->ndo_netpoll_cleanup() was never called, and\n       the skb pool is not cleaned as well (for the second netpoll\n       instance)\n  - This leaks npinfo and skbpool skbs, which is clearly reported by\n    kmemleak.\n\nRevert commit efa95b01da18 (\"netpoll: fix use after free\") and adds\nclarifying comments emphasizing that npinfo cleanup should only happen\nonce the refcount reaches zero, ensuring stable and correct netpoll\nbehavior.\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"sunlit","depthScore":3,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":2.8,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}