Microsoft security update for CVE-2025-38721
🔗 CVE IDs covered (1)
📋 Microsoft's advisory
EchelonGraph does not copy Microsoft's advisory page: its FAQ and remediation text are not shown here. Read the advisory on https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-38721. This page also shows what EchelonGraph holds for CVE-2025-38721, with the description from its CVE record, which the CVE Numbering Authority that assigned the CVE wrote: for a CVE Microsoft assigned, often in the words of Microsoft's own advisory.
🎯 Affected products3
- azl3 kernel 6.6.96.2-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.96.2-2 on Azure Linux 3.0
- cbl2 kernel 5.15.186.1-1 on CBL Mariner 2.0
✅ Updates Microsoft lists: 2 updates
2 rows: one per KB article or update, update type and fixed build. Their details are on Microsoft's advisory.
| KB article | Update | Fixed build |
|---|---|---|
| — | Security Update | 5.15.200.1-1 |
| — | Security Update | 6.6.104.2-1 |
🧭 EchelonGraph on CVE-2025-38721
- EchelonGraph score
- 5.5 MEDIUM
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Fix status
- A fix is available — apply it.
Description from the CVE record (CVE.org), as published by its numbering authority
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: ctnetlink: fix refcount leak on table dump There is a reference count leak in ctnetlink_dump_table(): if (res < 0) { nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general); // HERE cb->args[1] = (unsigned long)ct; ... While its very unlikely, its possible that ct == last. If this happens, then the refcount of ct was already incremented. This 2nd increment is never undone. This prevents the conntrack object from being released, which in turn keeps prevents cnet->count from dropping back to 0. This will then block the netns dismantle (or conntrack rmmod) as nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list() will wait forever. This can be reproduced by running conntrack_resize.sh selftest in a loop. It takes ~20 minutes for me on a preemptible kernel on average before I see a runaway kworker spinning in nf_conntrack_cleanup_net_list. One fix would to change this to: if (res < 0) { if (ct != last) nf_conntrack_get(&ct->ct_general); But this reference counting isn't needed in the first place. We can just store a cookie value instead. A followup patch will do the same for ctnetlink_exp_dump_table, it looks to me as if this has the same problem and like ctnetlink_dump_table, we only need a 'skip hint', not the actual object so we can apply the same cookie strategy there as well.
Published by kernel.org, the CVE Numbering Authority that assigned CVE-2025-38721, in its CVE record at CVE.org; reused under the CVE Program's Terms of Use (its licence and MITRE's copyright notice are in our Terms of Service).