CVE-2025-22058

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: udp: Fix memory accounting leak. Matt Dowling reported a weird UDP memory usage issue. Under normal operation, the UDP memory usage reported in /proc/net/sockstat remains close to zero. However, it occasionally spiked to 524,288 pages and never dropped. Moreover, the value doubled when the application was terminated. Finally, it caused intermittent packet drops. We can reproduce the issue with the script below [0]: 1. /proc/net/sockstat reports 0 pages # cat /proc/net/sockstat | grep UDP: UDP: inuse 1 mem 0 2. Run the script till the report reaches 524,288 # python3 test.py & sleep 5 # cat /proc/net/sockstat | grep UDP: UDP: inuse 3 mem 524288 <-- (INT_MAX + 1) >> PAGE_SHIFT 3. Kill the socket and confirm the number never drops # pkill python3 && sleep 5 # cat /proc/net/sockstat | grep UDP: UDP: inuse 1 mem 524288 4. (necessary since v6.0) Trigger proto_memory_pcpu_drain() # python3 test.py & sleep 1 && pkill python3 5. The number doubles # cat /proc/net/sockstat | grep UDP: UDP: inuse 1 mem 1048577 The application set INT_MAX to SO_RCVBUF, which triggered an integer overflow in udp_rmem_release(). When a socket is close()d, udp_destruct_common() purges its receive queue and sums up skb->truesize in the queue. This total is calculated and stored in a local unsigned integer variable. The total size is then passed to udp_rmem_release() to adjust memory accounting. However, because the function takes a signed integer argument, the total size can wrap around, causing an overflow. Then, the released amount is calculated as follows: 1) Add size to sk->sk_forward_alloc. 2) Round down sk->sk_forward_alloc to the nearest lower multiple of PAGE_SIZE and assign it to amount. 3) Subtract amount from sk->sk_forward_alloc. 4) Pass amount >> PAGE_SHIFT to __sk_mem_reduce_allocated(). When the issue occurred, the total in udp_destruct_common() was 2147484480 (INT_MAX + 833), which was cast to -2147482816 in udp_rmem_release(). At 1) sk->sk_forward_alloc is changed from 3264 to -2147479552, and 2) sets -2147479552 to amount. 3) reverts the wraparound, so we don't see a warning in inet_sock_destruct(). However, udp_memory_allocated ends up doubling at 4). Since commit 3cd3399dd7a8 ("net: implement per-cpu reserves for memory_allocated"), memory usage no longer doubles immediately after a socket is close()d because __sk_mem_reduce_allocated() caches the amount in udp_memory_per_cpu_fw_alloc. However, the next time a UDP socket receives a packet, the subtraction takes effect, causing UDP memory usage to double. This issue makes further memory allocation fail once the socket's sk->sk_rmem_alloc exceeds net.ipv4.udp_rmem_min, resulting in packet drops. To prevent this issue, let's use unsigned int for the calculation and call sk_forward_alloc_add() only once for the small delta. Note that first_packet_length() also potentially has the same problem. [0]: from socket import * SO_RCVBUFFORCE = 33 INT_MAX = (2 ** 31) - 1 s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM) s.bind(('', 0)) s.setsockopt(SOL_SOCKET, SO_RCVBUFFORCE, INT_MAX) c = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM) c.connect(s.getsockname()) data = b'a' * 100 while True: c.send(data)

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2025-04-16 15:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 08:44 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.2% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 5.5 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2025-04-16 15:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 08:44 UTC

Exploit probability

0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-401

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Linux Kernel < 5.4.301
• Linux Kernel < 5.10.246
• Linux Kernel < 5.15.195
• Linux Kernel < 6.1.134
• Linux Kernel < 6.6.87
• Linux Kernel < 6.12.23
• Linux Kernel < 6.13.11
• Linux Kernel < 6.14.2

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.5

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2025-22058.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2025-22058. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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