Local kernel compromise via stale DSA conduit pointer
Published Jan 23, 2026 · Updated Jan 23, 2026
Reference-management errors in Linux Kernel DSA allow local users to compromise kernel data and interrupt affected systems. The OF parser fails to release a conduit kobject reference, while switch probing permits conduit unregister before acquiring a netdev reference, leaving cpu_dp->conduit stale. Reachability requires a DSA switch configuration and low-privileged local access during conduit registration changes; no remote trigger is reported.
Summary
What happened
Reference-management errors in Linux Kernel DSA allow local users to compromise kernel data and interrupt affected systems. The OF parser fails to release a conduit kobject reference, while switch probing permits conduit unregister before acquiring a netdev reference, leaving cpu_dp->conduit stale. Reachability requires a DSA switch configuration and low-privileged local access during conduit registration changes; no remote trigger is reported.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-71152
- Published
- Jan 23, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 23, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 23, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 23, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=4.8
- Affected versionversion=83c0afaec7b730b16c518aecc8e6246ec91b265e <06e219f6a706c367c93051f408ac61417643d2f9
- Affected versionversion=83c0afaec7b730b16c518aecc8e6246ec91b265e <0e766b77ba5093583dfe609fae0aa1545c46dbbd
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
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo