Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-37772

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.135 / 6.6.88 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/cma: Fix workqueue crash in cma_netevent_work_handler struct rdma_cm_id has member "struct work_struct net_work" that is reused for enqueuing cma_netevent_work_handler()s onto cma_wq. Below crash[1] can occur if more than one call to cma_netevent_callback() occurs in quick succession, which further enqueues cma_netevent_work_handler()s for the same rdma_cm_id, overwriting any previously queued work-item(s) that was just scheduled to run i.e. there is no guarantee the queued work item may run between two successive calls to cma_netevent_callback() and the 2nd INIT_WORK would overwrite the 1st work item (for the same rdma_cm_id), despite grabbing id_table_lock during enqueue. Also drgn analysis [2] indicates the work item was likely overwritten. Fix this by moving the INIT_WORK() to __rdma_create_id(), so that it doesn't race with any existing queue_work() or its worker thread. [1] Trimmed crash stack: ============================================= BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008 kworker/u256:6 ... 6.12.0-0... Workqueue: cma_netevent_work_handler [rdma_cm] (rdma_cm) RIP: 0010:process_one_work+0xba/0x31a Call Trace: worker_thread+0x266/0x3a0 kthread+0xcf/0x100 ret_from_fork+0x31/0x50 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 ============================================= [2] drgn crash analysis: >>> trace = prog.crashed_thread().stack_trace() >>> trace (0) crash_setup_regs (./arch/x86/include/asm/kexec.h:111:15) (1) __crash_kexec (kernel/crash_core.c:122:4) (2) panic (kernel/panic.c:399:3) (3) oops_end (arch/x86/kernel/dumpstack.c:382:3) ... (8) process_one_work (kernel/workqueue.c:3168:2) (9) process_scheduled_works (kernel/workqueue.c:3310:3) (10) worker_thread (kernel/workqueue.c:3391:4) (11) kthread (kernel/kthread.c:389:9) Line workqueue.c:3168 for this kernel version is in process_one_work(): 3168 strscpy(worker->desc, pwq->wq->name, WORKER_DESC_LEN); >>> trace[8]["work"] *(struct work_struct *)0xffff92577d0a21d8 = { .data = (atomic_long_t){ .counter = (s64)536870912, <=== Note }, .entry = (struct list_head){ .next = (struct list_head *)0xffff924d075924c0, .prev = (struct list_head *)0xffff924d075924c0, }, .func = (work_func_t)cma_netevent_work_handler+0x0 = 0xffffffffc2cec280, } Suspicion is that pwq is NULL: >>> trace[8]["pwq"] (struct pool_workqueue *)<absent> In process_one_work(), pwq is assigned from: struct pool_workqueue *pwq = get_work_pwq(work); and get_work_pwq() is: static struct pool_workqueue *get_work_pwq(struct work_struct *work) { unsigned long data = atomic_long_read(&work->data); if (data & WORK_STRUCT_PWQ) return work_struct_pwq(data); else return NULL; } WORK_STRUCT_PWQ is 0x4: >>> print(repr(prog['WORK_STRUCT_PWQ'])) Object(prog, 'enum work_flags', value=4) But work->data is 536870912 which is 0x20000000. So, get_work_pwq() returns NULL and we crash in process_one_work(): 3168 strscpy(worker->desc, pwq->wq->name, WORKER_DESC_LEN); =============================================

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.0, < 6.1.135>= 6.2, < 6.6.88>= 6.7, < 6.12.25>= 6.13, < 6.14.4= 6.15
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.1.135 / 6.6.88 / 6.12.25 or later
Fixed in 6.1.1356.6.886.12.25
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.14.4+ or 6.12.25+ or 6.6.88+ or 6.1.135+ / Debian 11 kernel update

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to one of the following fixed versions: 6.1.135, 6.6.88, 6.12.25, or 6.14.4 (or later stable releases)
  2. For Debian 11 (Bullseye) systems, apply the Debian-specific kernel update for CVE-2025-37772
  3. Reboot the system after applying the kernel update to load the patched kernel
  4. Verify the running kernel version with 'uname -r' to confirm the fix is active
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system downtime for reboot; ensure compatibility with existing system modules and drivers before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-37772 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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