CVE-2025-40206
Description
From CVE.org
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nft_objref: validate objref and objrefmap expressions Referencing a synproxy stateful object from OUTPUT hook causes kernel crash due to infinite recursive calls: BUG: TASK stack guard page was hit at 000000008bda5b8c (stack is 000000003ab1c4a5..00000000494d8b12) [...] Call Trace: __find_rr_leaf+0x99/0x230 fib6_table_lookup+0x13b/0x2d0 ip6_pol_route+0xa4/0x400 fib6_rule_lookup+0x156/0x240 ip6_route_output_flags+0xc6/0x150 __nf_ip6_route+0x23/0x50 synproxy_send_tcp_ipv6+0x106/0x200 synproxy_send_client_synack_ipv6+0x1aa/0x1f0 nft_synproxy_do_eval+0x263/0x310 nft_do_chain+0x5a8/0x5f0 [nf_tables nft_do_chain_inet+0x98/0x110 nf_hook_slow+0x43/0xc0 __ip6_local_out+0xf0/0x170 ip6_local_out+0x17/0x70 synproxy_send_tcp_ipv6+0x1a2/0x200 synproxy_send_client_synack_ipv6+0x1aa/0x1f0 [...] Implement objref and objrefmap expression validate functions. Currently, only NFT_OBJECT_SYNPROXY object type requires validation. This will also handle a jump to a chain using a synproxy object from the OUTPUT hook. Now when trying to reference a synproxy object in the OUTPUT hook, nft will produce the following error: synproxy_crash.nft: Error: Could not process rule: Operation not supported synproxy name mysynproxy ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Statement
The bug allows attaching a synproxy stateful object to an OUTPUT hook in nftables, which causes infinite recursion in the SYNPROXY handling path and eventually triggers a kernel stack overflow and crash. Exploitation requires the ability to install nftables rules (typically CAP_NET_ADMIN / root), so the realistic impact is a privileged local denial-of-service.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.4 | N/A | 7.8 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | High | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
Resources including CPU, memory, and stack memory could be rapidly consumed or exhausted, eventually leading to an exit or crash.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data
In some cases, an application's interpreter might kill a process or thread that appears to be consuming too much resources, such as with PHP's memory_limit setting. When the interpreter kills the process/thread, it might report an error containing detailed information such as the application's installation path.
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