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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-71233

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.201 / 6.1.164 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: PCI: endpoint: Avoid creating sub-groups asynchronously The asynchronous creation of sub-groups by a delayed work could lead to a NULL pointer dereference when the driver directory is removed before the work completes. The crash can be easily reproduced with the following commands: # cd /sys/kernel/config/pci_ep/functions/pci_epf_test # for i in {1..20}; do mkdir test && rmdir test; done BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000088 ... Call Trace: configfs_register_group+0x3d/0x190 pci_epf_cfs_work+0x41/0x110 process_one_work+0x18f/0x350 worker_thread+0x25a/0x3a0 Fix this issue by using configfs_add_default_group() API which does not have the deadlock problem as configfs_register_group() and does not require the delayed work handler. [mani: slightly reworded the description and added stable list]

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:>= 5.12, < 5.15.201>= 5.16, < 6.1.164>= 6.2, < 6.6.127>= 6.7, < 6.12.72>= 6.13, < 6.18.11>= 6.19, < 6.19.1

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 5.15.201 / 6.1.164 / 6.6.127 or later
Fixed in 5.15.2016.1.1646.6.127
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

5.15.201+ / 6.1.164+ / 6.6.127+ / 6.12.72+ (depending on which branch you're on)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which version branch your current kernel belongs to (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.6.x, or 6.7.x)
  3. For kernels in the 5.12-5.15 range: upgrade to kernel version 5.15.201 or later
  4. For kernels in the 5.16-6.1 range: upgrade to kernel version 6.1.164 or later
  5. For kernels in the 6.2-6.6 range: upgrade to kernel version 6.6.127 or later
  6. For kernels in the 6.7-6.12 range: upgrade to kernel version 6.12.72 or later
  7. After upgrade, verify the fix commit 24a253c3aa6d9a2cde46158ce9782e023bfbf32d is included in the new kernel
  8. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding out-of-tree kernel modules; ensure driver compatibility 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-2025-71233 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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