Kernel crash via concurrent MPTCP SYN-ACK handling
Published May 1, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel MPTCP subsystem allows remote attackers to crash the kernel via duplicate SYN-ACK processing. In subflow_syn_recv_sock, two CPUs can process the same request after the first path transfers subflow_req->msk ownership and clears it; the second path passes NULL to mptcp_can_accept_new_subflow. Reachability requires an MPTCP listener and a repeated MP_JOIN acknowledgment, and successful triggering causes a kernel panic rather than data disclosure or modification.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel MPTCP subsystem allows remote attackers to crash the kernel via duplicate SYN-ACK processing. In subflow_syn_recv_sock, two CPUs can process the same request after the first path transfers subflow_req->msk ownership and clears it; the second path passes NULL to mptcp_can_accept_new_subflow. Reachability requires an MPTCP listener and a repeated MP_JOIN acknowledgment, and successful triggering causes a kernel panic rather than data disclosure or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-23145
- Published
- May 1, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1498
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 1, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.9
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <443041deb5ef6a1289a99ed95015ec7442f141dc
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <4b2649b9717678aeb097893cc49f59311a1ecab0
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <7f9ae060ed64aef8f174c5f1ea513825b1be9af1
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <855bf0aacd51fced11ea9aa0d5101ee0febaeadb
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <8cf7fef1bb2ffea7792bcbf71ca00216cecc725d
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <b3088bd2a6790c8efff139d86d7a9d0b1305977b
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <dc81e41a307df523072186b241fa8244fecd7803
- Affected versionversion=9466a1ccebbe54ac57fb8a89c2b4b854826546a8 <efd58a8dd9e7a709a90ee486a4247c923d27296f
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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