CVE-2025-40043

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: nfc: nci: Add parameter validation for packet data Syzbot reported an uninitialized value bug in nci_init_req, which was introduced by commit 5aca7966d2a7 ("Merge tag 'perf-tools-fixes-for-v6.17-2025-09-16' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/perf/perf-tools"). This bug arises due to very limited and poor input validation that was done at nic_valid_size(). This validation only validates the skb->len (directly reflects size provided at the userspace interface) with the length provided in the buffer itself (interpreted as NCI_HEADER). This leads to the processing of memory content at the address assuming the correct layout per what opcode requires there. This leads to the accesses to buffer of `skb_buff->data` which is not assigned anything yet. Following the same silent drop of packets of invalid sizes at `nic_valid_size()`, add validation of the data in the respective handlers and return error values in case of failure. Release the skb if error values are returned from handlers in `nci_nft_packet` and effectively do a silent drop Possible TODO: because we silently drop the packets, the call to `nci_request` will be waiting for completion of request and will face timeouts. These timeouts can get excessively logged in the dmesg. A proper handling of them may require to export `nci_request_cancel` (or propagate error handling from the nft packets handlers).

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-10-28
Last modified 2026-04-15
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 3.2 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.15.195, 6.1.156, 6.6.112, 6.12.53, 6.17.3, 6.18 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 3.2
Fixed in
✓ 5.15.195 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.156 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.112 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.53 6.12.x ✓ 6.17.3 6.17.x ✓ 6.18

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-40043 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2025-40043?

    CVE-2025-40043 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 3.2 onward and has been patched in 5.15.195, 6.1.156, 6.6.112 and others. CVE-2025-40043 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-40043?

    Yes — CVE-2025-40043 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.15.195, 6.1.156, 6.6.112 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.2 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2025-40043 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2025-40043 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.