In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mlxsw: spectrum_router: Fix neighbour use-after-free
We sometimes observe use-after-free when dereferencing a neighbour [1].
The problem seems to be that the driver stores a pointer to the
neighbour, but without holding a reference on it. A reference is only
taken when the neighbour is used by a nexthop.
Fix by simplifying the reference counting scheme. Always take a
reference when storing a neighbour pointer in a neighbour entry. Avoid
taking a referencing when the neighbour is used by a nexthop as the
neighbour entry associated with the nexthop already holds a reference.
Tested by running the test that uncovered the problem over 300 times.
Without this patch the problem was reproduced after a handful of
iterations.
[1]
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mlxsw_sp_neigh_entry_update+0x2d4/0x310
Read of size 8 at addr ffff88817f8e3420 by task ip/3929
CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 3929 Comm: ip Not tainted 6.18.0-rc4-virtme-g36b21a067510 #3 PREEMPT(full)
Hardware name: Nvidia SN5600/VMOD0013, BIOS 5.13 05/31/2023
Call Trace:
<TASK>
dump_stack_lvl+0x6f/0xa0
print_address_description.constprop.0+0x6e/0x300
print_report+0xfc/0x1fb
kasan_report+0xe4/0x110
mlxsw_sp_neigh_entry_update+0x2d4/0x310
mlxsw_sp_router_rif_gone_sync+0x35f/0x510
mlxsw_sp_rif_destroy+0x1ea/0x730
mlxsw_sp_inetaddr_port_vlan_event+0xa1/0x1b0
__mlxsw_sp_inetaddr_lag_event+0xcc/0x130
__mlxsw_sp_inetaddr_event+0xf5/0x3c0
mlxsw_sp_router_netdevice_event+0x1015/0x1580
notifier_call_chain+0xcc/0x150
call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7e/0x100
__netdev_upper_dev_unlink+0x10b/0x210
netdev_upper_dev_unlink+0x79/0xa0
vrf_del_slave+0x18/0x50
do_set_master+0x146/0x7d0
do_setlink.isra.0+0x9a0/0x2880
rtnl_newlink+0x637/0xb20
rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x6fe/0xb90
netlink_rcv_skb+0x123/0x380
netlink_unicast+0x4a3/0x770
netlink_sendmsg+0x75b/0xc90
__sock_sendmsg+0xbe/0x160
____sys_sendmsg+0x5b2/0x7d0
___sys_sendmsg+0xfd/0x180
__sys_sendmsg+0x124/0x1c0
do_syscall_64+0xbb/0xfd0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
[...]
Allocated by task 109:
kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50
kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30
__kasan_kmalloc+0x7b/0x90
__kmalloc_noprof+0x2c1/0x790
neigh_alloc+0x6af/0x8f0
___neigh_create+0x63/0xe90
mlxsw_sp_nexthop_neigh_init+0x430/0x7e0
mlxsw_sp_nexthop_type_init+0x212/0x960
mlxsw_sp_nexthop6_group_info_init.constprop.0+0x81f/0x1280
mlxsw_sp_nexthop6_group_get+0x392/0x6a0
mlxsw_sp_fib6_entry_create+0x46a/0xfd0
mlxsw_sp_router_fib6_replace+0x1ed/0x5f0
mlxsw_sp_router_fib6_event_work+0x10a/0x2a0
process_one_work+0xd57/0x1390
worker_thread+0x4d6/0xd40
kthread+0x355/0x5b0
ret_from_fork+0x1d4/0x270
ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20
Freed by task 154:
kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50
kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30
__kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60
__kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70
kmem_cache_free_bulk.part.0+0x1eb/0x5e0
kvfree_rcu_bulk+0x1f2/0x260
kfree_rcu_work+0x130/0x1b0
process_one_work+0xd57/0x1390
worker_thread+0x4d6/0xd40
kthread+0x355/0x5b0
ret_from_fork+0x1d4/0x270
ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20
Last potentially related work creation:
kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50
kasan_record_aux_stack+0x8c/0xa0
kvfree_call_rcu+0x93/0x5b0
mlxsw_sp_router_neigh_event_work+0x67d/0x860
process_one_work+0xd57/0x1390
worker_thread+0x4d6/0xd40
kthread+0x355/0x5b0
ret_from_fork+0x1d4/0x270
ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendors | Products |
|---|---|
| Linux |
|
No data.
No data.
No data.
References
History
Tue, 13 Jan 2026 15:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mlxsw: spectrum_router: Fix neighbour use-after-free We sometimes observe use-after-free when dereferencing a neighbour [1]. The problem seems to be that the driver stores a pointer to the neighbour, but without holding a reference on it. A reference is only taken when the neighbour is used by a nexthop. Fix by simplifying the reference counting scheme. Always take a reference when storing a neighbour pointer in a neighbour entry. Avoid taking a referencing when the neighbour is used by a nexthop as the neighbour entry associated with the nexthop already holds a reference. Tested by running the test that uncovered the problem over 300 times. Without this patch the problem was reproduced after a handful of iterations. [1] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in mlxsw_sp_neigh_entry_update+0x2d4/0x310 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88817f8e3420 by task ip/3929 CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 3929 Comm: ip Not tainted 6.18.0-rc4-virtme-g36b21a067510 #3 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Nvidia SN5600/VMOD0013, BIOS 5.13 05/31/2023 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x6f/0xa0 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x6e/0x300 print_report+0xfc/0x1fb kasan_report+0xe4/0x110 mlxsw_sp_neigh_entry_update+0x2d4/0x310 mlxsw_sp_router_rif_gone_sync+0x35f/0x510 mlxsw_sp_rif_destroy+0x1ea/0x730 mlxsw_sp_inetaddr_port_vlan_event+0xa1/0x1b0 __mlxsw_sp_inetaddr_lag_event+0xcc/0x130 __mlxsw_sp_inetaddr_event+0xf5/0x3c0 mlxsw_sp_router_netdevice_event+0x1015/0x1580 notifier_call_chain+0xcc/0x150 call_netdevice_notifiers_info+0x7e/0x100 __netdev_upper_dev_unlink+0x10b/0x210 netdev_upper_dev_unlink+0x79/0xa0 vrf_del_slave+0x18/0x50 do_set_master+0x146/0x7d0 do_setlink.isra.0+0x9a0/0x2880 rtnl_newlink+0x637/0xb20 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x6fe/0xb90 netlink_rcv_skb+0x123/0x380 netlink_unicast+0x4a3/0x770 netlink_sendmsg+0x75b/0xc90 __sock_sendmsg+0xbe/0x160 ____sys_sendmsg+0x5b2/0x7d0 ___sys_sendmsg+0xfd/0x180 __sys_sendmsg+0x124/0x1c0 do_syscall_64+0xbb/0xfd0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 [...] Allocated by task 109: kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_kmalloc+0x7b/0x90 __kmalloc_noprof+0x2c1/0x790 neigh_alloc+0x6af/0x8f0 ___neigh_create+0x63/0xe90 mlxsw_sp_nexthop_neigh_init+0x430/0x7e0 mlxsw_sp_nexthop_type_init+0x212/0x960 mlxsw_sp_nexthop6_group_info_init.constprop.0+0x81f/0x1280 mlxsw_sp_nexthop6_group_get+0x392/0x6a0 mlxsw_sp_fib6_entry_create+0x46a/0xfd0 mlxsw_sp_router_fib6_replace+0x1ed/0x5f0 mlxsw_sp_router_fib6_event_work+0x10a/0x2a0 process_one_work+0xd57/0x1390 worker_thread+0x4d6/0xd40 kthread+0x355/0x5b0 ret_from_fork+0x1d4/0x270 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 Freed by task 154: kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 __kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70 kmem_cache_free_bulk.part.0+0x1eb/0x5e0 kvfree_rcu_bulk+0x1f2/0x260 kfree_rcu_work+0x130/0x1b0 process_one_work+0xd57/0x1390 worker_thread+0x4d6/0xd40 kthread+0x355/0x5b0 ret_from_fork+0x1d4/0x270 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 Last potentially related work creation: kasan_save_stack+0x30/0x50 kasan_record_aux_stack+0x8c/0xa0 kvfree_call_rcu+0x93/0x5b0 mlxsw_sp_router_neigh_event_work+0x67d/0x860 process_one_work+0xd57/0x1390 worker_thread+0x4d6/0xd40 kthread+0x355/0x5b0 ret_from_fork+0x1d4/0x270 ret_from_fork_asm+0x11/0x20 | |
| Title | mlxsw: spectrum_router: Fix neighbour use-after-free | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
|
MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-01-13T15:29:10.349Z
Reserved: 2025-12-24T10:30:51.045Z
Link: CVE-2025-68801
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-01-13T16:16:02.137
Modified: 2026-01-13T16:16:02.137
Link: CVE-2025-68801
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.