{"id":"DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40251","details":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  devlink: rate: Unset parent pointer in devl_rate_nodes_destroy  The function devl_rate_nodes_destroy is documented to \"Unset parent for all rate objects\". However, it was only calling the driver-specific `rate_leaf_parent_set` or `rate_node_parent_set` ops and decrementing the parent's refcount, without actually setting the `devlink_rate-\u003eparent` pointer to NULL.  This leaves a dangling pointer in the `devlink_rate` struct, which cause refcount error in netdevsim[1] and mlx5[2]. In addition, this is inconsistent with the behavior of `devlink_nl_rate_parent_node_set`, where the parent pointer is correctly cleared.  This patch fixes the issue by explicitly setting `devlink_rate-\u003eparent` to NULL after notifying the driver, thus fulfilling the function's documented behavior for all rate objects.  [1] repro steps: echo 1 \u003e /sys/bus/netdevsim/new_device devlink dev eswitch set netdevsim/netdevsim1 mode switchdev echo 1 \u003e /sys/bus/netdevsim/devices/netdevsim1/sriov_numvfs devlink port function rate add netdevsim/netdevsim1/test_node devlink port function rate set netdevsim/netdevsim1/128 parent test_node echo 1 \u003e /sys/bus/netdevsim/del_device  dmesg: refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory. WARNING: CPU: 8 PID: 1530 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 1530 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.18.0-rc4+ #1 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.0-0-gd239552ce722-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 Call Trace:  \u003cTASK\u003e  devl_rate_leaf_destroy+0x8d/0x90  __nsim_dev_port_del+0x6c/0x70 [netdevsim]  nsim_dev_reload_destroy+0x11c/0x140 [netdevsim]  nsim_drv_remove+0x2b/0xb0 [netdevsim]  device_release_driver_internal+0x194/0x1f0  bus_remove_device+0xc6/0x130  device_del+0x159/0x3c0  device_unregister+0x1a/0x60  del_device_store+0x111/0x170 [netdevsim]  kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12e/0x1e0  vfs_write+0x215/0x3d0  ksys_write+0x5f/0xd0  do_syscall_64+0x55/0x10f0  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53  [2] devlink dev eswitch set pci/0000:08:00.0 mode switchdev devlink port add pci/0000:08:00.0 flavour pcisf pfnum 0 sfnum 1000 devlink port function rate add pci/0000:08:00.0/group1 devlink port function rate set pci/0000:08:00.0/32768 parent group1 modprobe -r mlx5_ib mlx5_fwctl mlx5_core  dmesg: refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory. WARNING: CPU: 7 PID: 16151 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 CPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 16151 Comm: bash Not tainted 6.17.0-rc7_for_upstream_min_debug_2025_10_02_12_44 #1 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x42/0xe0 Call Trace:  \u003cTASK\u003e  devl_rate_leaf_destroy+0x8d/0x90  mlx5_esw_offloads_devlink_port_unregister+0x33/0x60 [mlx5_core]  mlx5_esw_offloads_unload_rep+0x3f/0x50 [mlx5_core]  mlx5_eswitch_unload_sf_vport+0x40/0x90 [mlx5_core]  mlx5_sf_esw_event+0xc4/0x120 [mlx5_core]  notifier_call_chain+0x33/0xa0  blocking_notifier_call_chain+0x3b/0x50  mlx5_eswitch_disable_locked+0x50/0x110 [mlx5_core]  mlx5_eswitch_disable+0x63/0x90 [mlx5_core]  mlx5_unload+0x1d/0x170 [mlx5_core]  mlx5_uninit_one+0xa2/0x130 [mlx5_core]  remove_one+0x78/0xd0 [mlx5_core]  pci_device_remove+0x39/0xa0  device_release_driver_internal+0x194/0x1f0  unbind_store+0x99/0xa0  kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x12e/0x1e0  vfs_write+0x215/0x3d0  ksys_write+0x5f/0xd0  do_syscall_64+0x53/0x1f0  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53","modified":"2026-09-01T16:06:17.625353076Z","published":"2025-12-04T16:16:18.663Z","upstream":["CVE-2025-40251"],"references":[{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-40251"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"linux","ecosystem":"Debian:12","purl":"pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=bookworm"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"6.1.164-1"}]}],"versions":["6.1.106-1","6.1.106-2","6.1.106-3","6.1.112-1","6.1.115-1","6.1.119-1","6.1.123-1","6.1.124-1","6.1.128-1","6.1.129-1","6.1.133-1","6.1.135-1","6.1.137-1","6.1.139-1","6.1.140-1","6.1.147-1","6.1.148-1","6.1.153-1","6.1.158-1","6.1.159-1","6.1.162-1","6.1.27-1","6.1.37-1","6.1.38-1","6.1.38-2","6.1.38-2~bpo11+1","6.1.38-3","6.1.38-4","6.1.38-4~bpo11+1","6.1.52-1","6.1.55-1","6.1.55-1~bpo11+1","6.1.64-1","6.1.66-1","6.1.67-1","6.1.69-1","6.1.69-1~bpo11+1","6.1.76-1","6.1.76-1~bpo11+1","6.1.82-1","6.1.85-1","6.1.90-1","6.1.90-1~bpo11+1","6.1.94-1","6.1.94-1~bpo11+1","6.1.98-1","6.1.99-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"urgency":"not yet assigned"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40251.json"}},{"package":{"name":"linux","ecosystem":"Debian:13","purl":"pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=trixie"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"6.12.63-1"}]}],"versions":["6.12.38-1","6.12.41-1","6.12.43-1","6.12.43-1~bpo12+1","6.12.48-1","6.12.57-1","6.12.57-1~bpo12+1","6.12.63-1~bpo12+1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"urgency":"not yet assigned"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40251.json"}},{"package":{"name":"linux","ecosystem":"Debian:14","purl":"pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=forky"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"6.17.10-1"}]}],"versions":["6.12.100-1","6.12.101-1","6.12.105-1","6.12.107-1","6.12.38-1","6.12.41-1","6.12.43-1","6.12.43-1~bpo12+1","6.12.48-1","6.12.57-1","6.12.57-1~bpo12+1","6.12.63-1","6.12.63-1~bpo12+1","6.12.69-1","6.12.69-1~bpo12+1","6.12.73-1","6.12.73-1~bpo12+1","6.12.74-1","6.12.74-2","6.12.74-2~bpo12+1","6.12.85-1","6.12.85-1~bpo12+1","6.12.86-1","6.12.86-1~bpo12+1","6.12.88-1","6.12.88-1~bpo12+1","6.12.90-1","6.12.90-1~bpo12+1","6.12.90-2","6.12.90-2~bpo12+1","6.12.94-1","6.12.94-1~bpo12+1","6.12.95-1","6.12.95-1~bpo12+1","6.12.96-1","6.13.10-1~exp1","6.13.11-1~exp1","6.13.2-1~exp1","6.13.3-1~exp1","6.13.4-1~exp1","6.13.5-1~exp1","6.13.6-1~exp1","6.13.7-1~exp1","6.13.8-1~exp1","6.13.9-1~exp1","6.13~rc6-1~exp1","6.13~rc7-1~exp1","6.14.3-1~exp1","6.14.5-1~exp1","6.14.6-1~exp1","6.15-1~exp1","6.15.1-1~exp1","6.15.2-1~exp1","6.15.3-1~exp1","6.15.4-1~exp1","6.15.5-1~exp1","6.15.6-1~exp1","6.15~rc7-1~exp1","6.16-1~exp1","6.16.1-1~exp1","6.16.10-1","6.16.11-1","6.16.12-1","6.16.12-1~bpo13+1","6.16.12-2","6.16.3-1","6.16.3-1~bpo13+1","6.16.5-1","6.16.6-1","6.16.7-1","6.16.8-1","6.16.9-1","6.16~rc7-1~exp1","6.17.2-1~exp1","6.17.5-1~exp1","6.17.6-1","6.17.7-1","6.17.7-2","6.17.8-1","6.17.8-1~bpo13+1","6.17.9-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"urgency":"not yet assigned"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40251.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"}]}