Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-71126

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.160 / 6.6.120 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: mptcp: avoid deadlock on fallback while reinjecting Jakub reported an MPTCP deadlock at fallback time: WARNING: possible recursive locking detected 6.18.0-rc7-virtme #1 Not tainted -------------------------------------------- mptcp_connect/20858 is trying to acquire lock: ff1100001da18b60 (&msk->fallback_lock){+.-.}-{3:3}, at: __mptcp_try_fallback+0xd8/0x280 but task is already holding lock: ff1100001da18b60 (&msk->fallback_lock){+.-.}-{3:3}, at: __mptcp_retrans+0x352/0xaa0 other info that might help us debug this: Possible unsafe locking scenario: CPU0 ---- lock(&msk->fallback_lock); lock(&msk->fallback_lock); *** DEADLOCK *** May be due to missing lock nesting notation 3 locks held by mptcp_connect/20858: #0: ff1100001da18290 (sk_lock-AF_INET){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: mptcp_sendmsg+0x114/0x1bc0 #1: ff1100001db40fd0 (k-sk_lock-AF_INET#2){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: __mptcp_retrans+0x2cb/0xaa0 #2: ff1100001da18b60 (&msk->fallback_lock){+.-.}-{3:3}, at: __mptcp_retrans+0x352/0xaa0 stack backtrace: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 20858 Comm: mptcp_connect Not tainted 6.18.0-rc7-virtme #1 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Bochs, BIOS Bochs 01/01/2011 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x6f/0xa0 print_deadlock_bug.cold+0xc0/0xcd validate_chain+0x2ff/0x5f0 __lock_acquire+0x34c/0x740 lock_acquire.part.0+0xbc/0x260 _raw_spin_lock_bh+0x38/0x50 __mptcp_try_fallback+0xd8/0x280 mptcp_sendmsg_frag+0x16c2/0x3050 __mptcp_retrans+0x421/0xaa0 mptcp_release_cb+0x5aa/0xa70 release_sock+0xab/0x1d0 mptcp_sendmsg+0xd5b/0x1bc0 sock_write_iter+0x281/0x4d0 new_sync_write+0x3c5/0x6f0 vfs_write+0x65e/0xbb0 ksys_write+0x17e/0x200 do_syscall_64+0xbb/0xfd0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 RIP: 0033:0x7fa5627cbc5e Code: 4d 89 d8 e8 14 bd 00 00 4c 8b 5d f8 41 8b 93 08 03 00 00 59 5e 48 83 f8 fc 74 11 c9 c3 0f 1f 80 00 00 00 00 48 8b 45 10 0f 05 <c9> c3 83 e2 39 83 fa 08 75 e7 e8 13 ff ff ff 0f 1f 00 f3 0f 1e fa RSP: 002b:00007fff1fe14700 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000001 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000000005 RCX: 00007fa5627cbc5e RDX: 0000000000001f9c RSI: 00007fff1fe16984 RDI: 0000000000000005 RBP: 00007fff1fe14710 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 00007fff1fe16920 R13: 0000000000002000 R14: 0000000000001f9c R15: 0000000000001f9c The packet scheduler could attempt a reinjection after receiving an MP_FAIL and before the infinite map has been transmitted, causing a deadlock since MPTCP needs to do the reinjection atomically from WRT fallback. Address the issue explicitly avoiding the reinjection in the critical scenario. Note that this is the only fallback critical section that could potentially send packets and hit the double-lock.

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-667

Shared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.

General guidance for the improper locking 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:>= 6.1.149, < 6.1.160>= 6.6.101, < 6.6.120>= 6.12.40, < 6.12.64>= 6.15.8, < 6.16>= 6.16.1, < 6.18.3= 6.16= 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 6.1.160 / 6.6.120 / 6.12.64 or later
Fixed in 6.1.1606.6.1206.12.64
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

6.1.160 (for 6.1.y) / 6.6.120 (for 6.6.y) / 6.12.64 (for 6.12.y) / 6.16 (for 6.15.y and later)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Check which version range your current kernel falls into (6.1.149-6.1.159, 6.6.101-6.6.119, 6.12.40-6.12.63, or 6.15.8-6.15.x)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version >= the fixed release for your branch: 6.1.160+ for 6.1.y, 6.6.120+ for 6.6.y, 6.12.64+ for 6.12.y, or 6.16+ for 6.15+
  4. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version with `uname -r`

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2025-71126 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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