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Mallory
Medium

Linux kernel nfsd proc registration error handling flaw

IdentifiersCVE-2025-22026CWE-252· Unchecked Return Value

CVE-2025-22026 is a Linux kernel vulnerability in the NFS server (nfsd) initialization path. The issue is that nfsd_proc_stat_init() ignored the return value of svc_proc_register() when creating the nfsd procfs statistics entry. If svc_proc_register() failed, the failure was not propagated, leaving initialization in an inconsistent state. Later, when the kernel attempted to remove the proc entry during teardown, it could trigger a WARN because the procfile had never been created successfully. The fix changes nfsd_proc_stat_init() to return the same pointer/error semantics as svc_proc_register() and updates nfsd_net_init() to validate that result and fail nfsd network namespace construction on error. According to the provided content, svc_proc_register() can fail if a dentry cannot be allocated or if an identical dentry already exists; the latter is considered unlikely in this code path and is treated as -ENOMEM.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

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Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful triggering of this flaw can cause kernel WARN conditions and failure of nfsd network namespace initialization when procfs entry registration fails. The primary impact described in the provided content is service initialization failure or kernel instability/noise in the form of WARNs, rather than direct code execution, privilege escalation, or confidentiality/integrity compromise.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

No specific vendor workaround is provided in the supplied content. Practical mitigations are limited to reducing the likelihood of procfs registration failure, such as maintaining adequate system memory to avoid dentry allocation failures, and avoiding use or startup of the NFS server (nfsd) on affected systems until a fixed kernel is deployed.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply a Linux kernel version containing the upstream fix for CVE-2025-22026. The fix modifies nfsd_proc_stat_init() to check and propagate the return value from svc_proc_register(), and updates nfsd_net_init() to abort nfsd_net construction if proc registration fails. The specific fixed kernel versions or commit identifiers are not provided in the supplied content.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

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VendorProductType
LinuxLinux Kerneloperating_system

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ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

3 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

What this page doesn’t show

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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Social activity1

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.