---
id: CVE-2025-68245
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing incorrect cleanup

  commit efa95b01da18 ("netpoll: fix use after free") incorrectly
  ignored the refcount and premat…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  net: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing incorrect cleanup

  commit efa95b01da18 ("netpoll: fix use after free") incorrectly
  ignored 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'
---

## Overview

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

net: netpoll: fix incorrect refcount handling causing incorrect cleanup

commit efa95b01da18 ("netpoll: fix use after free") incorrectly
ignored the refcount and prematurely set dev->npinfo to NULL during
netpoll cleanup, leading to improper behavior and memory leaks.

Scenario causing lack of proper cleanup:

1) A netpoll is associated with a NIC (e.g., eth0) and netdev->npinfo is
   allocated, and refcnt = 1
   - Keep in mind that npinfo is shared among all netpoll instances. In
     this case, there is just one.

2) Another netpoll is also associated with the same NIC and
   npinfo->refcnt += 1.
   - Now dev->npinfo->refcnt = 2;
   - There is just one npinfo associated to the netdev.

3) When the first netpolls goes to clean up:
   - The first cleanup succeeds and clears np->dev->npinfo, ignoring
     refcnt.
     - It basically calls `RCU_INIT_POINTER(np->dev->npinfo, NULL);`
   - Set dev->npinfo = NULL, without proper cleanup
   - No ->ndo_netpoll_cleanup() is either called

4) Now the second target tries to clean up
   - The second cleanup fails because np->dev->npinfo is already NULL.
     * In this case, ops->ndo_netpoll_cleanup() was never called, and
       the skb pool is not cleaned as well (for the second netpoll
       instance)
  - This leaks npinfo and skbpool skbs, which is clearly reported by
    kmemleak.

Revert commit efa95b01da18 ("netpoll: fix use after free") and adds
clarifying comments emphasizing that npinfo cleanup should only happen
once the refcount reaches zero, ensuring stable and correct netpoll
behavior.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.