Local privilege escalation via uninitialized SCC index
Published Dec 4, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Improper input validation in the Linux kernel and RUGGEDCOM RST2428P before 4.0 allows local users to gain kernel privileges. unix_add_edge() allocates a unix_vertex without initializing scc_index, so unix_vertex_dead() can group separate socket components and purge a live receive queue. An unprivileged local process can shape AF_UNIX socket graphs and reused slab data to obtain kernel memory reads and writes or trigger a kernel panic.
Summary
What happened
Improper input validation in the Linux kernel and RUGGEDCOM RST2428P before 4.0 allows local users to gain kernel privileges. unix_add_edge() allocates a unix_vertex without initializing scc_index, so unix_vertex_dead() can group separate socket components and purge a live receive queue. An unprivileged local process can shape AF_UNIX socket graphs and reused slab data to obtain kernel memory reads and writes or trigger a kernel panic.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-40214
- Published
- Dec 4, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-20, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 4, 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=6.10
- Affected versionversion=6.1.141 <6.1.159
- Affected versionversion=6.6.93 <6.6.117
- Affected versionversion=ad081928a8b0f57f269df999a28087fce6f2b6ce <1aa7e40ee850c9053e769957ce6541173891204d
- Affected versionversion=ad081928a8b0f57f269df999a28087fce6f2b6ce <60e6489f8e3b086bd1130ad4450a2c112e863791
- Affected versionversion=ad081928a8b0f57f269df999a28087fce6f2b6ce <db81ad20fd8aef7cc7d536c52ee5ea4c1f979128
- Affected versionversion=adfb68b39b39767d6bfb53e48c4f19c183765686 <20003fbb9174121b27bd1da6ebe61542ac4c327d
- Affected versionversion=d23802221f6755e104606864067c71af8cdb6788 <4cd8d755c7d4f515dd9abf483316aca2f1b7b0f3
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- AF_UNIX garbage-collector reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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