UBUNTU-CVE-2025-71097
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv4: Fix reference count leak when using error routes with nexthop objects When a nexthop object is deleted, it is marked as dead and then fib_table_flush() is called to flush all the routes that are using the dead nexthop. The current logic in fib_table_flush() is to only flush error routes (e.g., blackhole) when it is called as part of network namespace dismantle (i.e., with flush_all=true). Therefore, error routes are not flushed when their nexthop object is deleted: # ip link add name dummy1 up type dummy # ip nexthop add id 1 dev dummy1 # ip route add 198.51.100.1/32 nhid 1 # ip route add blackhole 198.51.100.2/32 nhid 1 # ip nexthop del id 1 # ip route show blackhole 198.51.100.2 nhid 1 dev dummy1 As such, they keep holding a reference on the nexthop object which in turn holds a reference on the nexthop device, resulting in a reference count leak: # ip link del dev dummy1 [ 70.516258] unregister_netdevice: waiting for dummy1 to become free. Usage count = 2 Fix by flushing error routes when their nexthop is marked as dead. IPv6 does not suffer from this problem.
02 / AFFECTED SOFTWARE
Affected packages
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03 / CONNECTIONS
Connected vulnerabilities
04 / EVIDENCE
Source records
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv4: Fix reference count leak when using error routes with nexthop objects When a nexthop object is deleted, it is marked as dead and then fib_table_flush() is called to flush all the routes that are using the dead nexthop. The current logic in fib_table_flush() is to only flush error routes (e.g., blackhole) when it is called as part of network namespace dismantle (i.e., with flush_all=true). Therefore, error routes are not flushed when their nexthop object is deleted: # ip link add name dummy1 up type dummy # ip nexthop add id 1 dev dummy1 # ip route add 198.51.100.1/32 nhid 1 # ip route add blackhole 198.51.100.2/32 nhid 1 # ip nexthop del id 1 # ip route show blackhole 198.51.100.2 nhid 1 dev dummy1 As such, they keep holding a reference on the nexthop object which in turn holds a reference on the nexthop device, resulting in a reference count leak: # ip link del dev dummy1 [ 70.516258] unregister_netdevice: waiting for dummy1 to become free. Usage count = 2 Fix by flushing error routes when their nexthop is marked as dead. IPv6 does not suffer from this problem.
05 / REFERENCES
Further evidence
- https://git.kernel.org/linus/ac782f4e3bfcde145b8a7f8af31d9422d94d172a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/30386e090c49e803c0616a7147e43409c32a2b0e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5979338c83012110ccd45cae6517591770bfe536
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac782f4e3bfcde145b8a7f8af31d9422d94d172a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3fc381320d04e4a74311e576a86cac49a16fc43
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ee4183501ea556dca31f5ffd8690aa9fd25b609f
- https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-71097
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8096-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8096-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8096-3
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8096-4
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8096-5
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8116-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8141-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8163-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8163-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8177-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8177-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8179-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8179-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8179-3
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8179-4
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8183-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8183-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8184-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8185-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8185-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8203-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8204-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8243-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8245-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8257-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8258-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8260-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8261-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8265-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8440-1
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71097