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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-71096

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.248 / 5.15.198 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/core: Check for the presence of LS_NLA_TYPE_DGID correctly The netlink response for RDMA_NL_LS_OP_IP_RESOLVE should always have a LS_NLA_TYPE_DGID attribute, it is invalid if it does not. Use the nl parsing logic properly and call nla_parse_deprecated() to fill the nlattrs array and then directly index that array to get the data for the DGID. Just fail if it is NULL. Remove the for loop searching for the nla, and squash the validation and parsing into one function. Fixes an uninitialized read from the stack triggered by userspace if it does not provide the DGID to a kernel initiated RDMA_NL_LS_OP_IP_RESOLVE query. BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in hex_byte_pack include/linux/hex.h:13 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in ip6_string+0xef4/0x13a0 lib/vsprintf.c:1490 hex_byte_pack include/linux/hex.h:13 [inline] ip6_string+0xef4/0x13a0 lib/vsprintf.c:1490 ip6_addr_string+0x18a/0x3e0 lib/vsprintf.c:1509 ip_addr_string+0x245/0xee0 lib/vsprintf.c:1633 pointer+0xc09/0x1bd0 lib/vsprintf.c:2542 vsnprintf+0xf8a/0x1bd0 lib/vsprintf.c:2930 vprintk_store+0x3ae/0x1530 kernel/printk/printk.c:2279 vprintk_emit+0x307/0xcd0 kernel/printk/printk.c:2426 vprintk_default+0x3f/0x50 kernel/printk/printk.c:2465 vprintk+0x36/0x50 kernel/printk/printk_safe.c:82 _printk+0x17e/0x1b0 kernel/printk/printk.c:2475 ib_nl_process_good_ip_rsep drivers/infiniband/core/addr.c:128 [inline] ib_nl_handle_ip_res_resp+0x963/0x9d0 drivers/infiniband/core/addr.c:141 rdma_nl_rcv_msg drivers/infiniband/core/netlink.c:-1 [inline] rdma_nl_rcv_skb drivers/infiniband/core/netlink.c:239 [inline] rdma_nl_rcv+0xefa/0x11c0 drivers/infiniband/core/netlink.c:259 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1320 [inline] netlink_unicast+0xf04/0x12b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1346 netlink_sendmsg+0x10b3/0x1250 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1896 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:714 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x333/0x3d0 net/socket.c:729 ____sys_sendmsg+0x7e0/0xd80 net/socket.c:2617 ___sys_sendmsg+0x271/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2671 __sys_sendmsg+0x1aa/0x300 net/socket.c:2703 __compat_sys_sendmsg net/compat.c:346 [inline] __do_compat_sys_sendmsg net/compat.c:353 [inline] __se_compat_sys_sendmsg net/compat.c:350 [inline] __ia32_compat_sys_sendmsg+0xa4/0x100 net/compat.c:350 ia32_sys_call+0x3f6c/0x4310 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_32.h:371 do_syscall_32_irqs_on arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c:83 [inline] __do_fast_syscall_32+0xb0/0x150 arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c:306 do_fast_syscall_32+0x38/0x80 arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c:331 do_SYSENTER_32+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/syscall_32.c:3

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-908

Memory or a resource is used before it has been initialised, so its contents are whatever happened to be there — sometimes leaking earlier data, sometimes values an attacker can influence. Behaviour becomes unpredictable and occasionally exploitable. Remediation is initialising every resource before use and ensuring initialisation happens on all code paths.

General guidance for the use of uninitialized resource 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:>= 4.7.1, < 5.10.248>= 5.11, < 5.15.198>= 5.16, < 6.1.160>= 6.2, < 6.6.120>= 6.7, < 6.12.64>= 6.13, < 6.18.4= 4.7= 6.19

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 5.10.248 / 5.15.198 / 6.1.160 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2485.15.1986.1.160
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 5.10.248+ (if on 5.10.x), 5.15.198+ (if on 5.15.x), 6.1.160+ (if on 6.1.x), or 6.6.120+ (if on 6.2-6.6.x). Prefer latest stable LTS such as 6.1.y or 6.6.y

  1. 1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check which version branch your kernel is from (e.g., 5.10.x, 5.15.x, 6.1.x, or 6.2.x through 6.6.x)
  3. 3. Upgrade the kernel to a version that includes the fix: for 5.10.x branch upgrade to >= 5.10.248, for 5.15.x upgrade to >= 5.15.198, for 6.1.x upgrade to >= 6.1.160, or for 6.2-6.6.x upgrade to >= 6.6.120
  4. 4. On Debian/Ubuntu: `apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade` or install specific kernel package
  5. 5. On RHEL/CentOS: `yum update kernel` or `dnf update kernel`
  6. 6. On SUSE: `zypper update kernel-default`
  7. 7. After upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  8. 8. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the commit 0b948afc1ded88b3562c893114387f34389eeb94 is included in the changelog
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree drivers or custom modules; ensure backups and test in staging first

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 $1,600. 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-2025-71096 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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