In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ax25: rcu protect dev->ax25_ptr

syzbot found a lockdep issue [1].

We should remove ax25 RTNL dependency in ax25_setsockopt()

This should also fix a variety of possible UAF in ax25.

[1]

WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected
6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0 Not tainted

syz.5.1818/12806 is trying to acquire lock:
ffffffff8fcb3988 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680

but task is already holding lock:
ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline]
ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574

which lock already depends on the new lock.

the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:

-> #1 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}:
lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849
lock_sock_nested+0x48/0x100 net/core/sock.c:3642
lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline]
ax25_kill_by_device net/ax25/af_ax25.c:101 [inline]
ax25_device_event+0x24d/0x580 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:146
notifier_call_chain+0x1a5/0x3f0 kernel/notifier.c:85
__dev_notify_flags+0x207/0x400
dev_change_flags+0xf0/0x1a0 net/core/dev.c:9026
dev_ifsioc+0x7c8/0xe70 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:563
dev_ioctl+0x719/0x1340 net/core/dev_ioctl.c:820
sock_do_ioctl+0x240/0x460 net/socket.c:1234
sock_ioctl+0x626/0x8e0 net/socket.c:1339
vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]
__do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:906 [inline]
__se_sys_ioctl+0xf5/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:892
do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]
do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

-> #0 (rtnl_mutex){+.+.}-{4:4}:
check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline]
check_prevs_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3280 [inline]
validate_chain+0x18ef/0x5920 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3904
__lock_acquire+0x1397/0x2100 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5226
lock_acquire+0x1ed/0x550 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5849
__mutex_lock_common kernel/locking/mutex.c:585 [inline]
__mutex_lock+0x1ac/0xee0 kernel/locking/mutex.c:735
ax25_setsockopt+0xa55/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:680
do_sock_setsockopt+0x3af/0x720 net/socket.c:2324
__sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2349 [inline]
__do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2355 [inline]
__se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2352 [inline]
__x64_sys_setsockopt+0x1ee/0x280 net/socket.c:2352
do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]
do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

other info that might help us debug this:

Possible unsafe locking scenario:

   CPU0                    CPU1
   ----                    ----

lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25);
lock(rtnl_mutex);
lock(sk_lock-AF_AX25);
lock(rtnl_mutex);

*** DEADLOCK ***

1 lock held by syz.5.1818/12806:
#0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: lock_sock include/net/sock.h:1618 [inline]
#0: ffff8880617ac258 (sk_lock-AF_AX25){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: ax25_setsockopt+0x209/0xe90 net/ax25/af_ax25.c:574

stack backtrace:
CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 12806 Comm: syz.5.1818 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc3-syzkaller-00762-g9268abe611b0 #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024
Call Trace:

__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:120
print_circular_bug+0x13a/0x1b0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2074
check_noncircular+0x36a/0x4a0 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:2206
check_prev_add kernel/locking/lockdep.c:3161 [inline]
check_prevs_add kernel/lockin
---truncated---

References

• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21812
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2802ed4ced27ebd474828fc67ffd7d66f11e3605
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7705d8a7f2c26c80973c81093db07c6022b2b30e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8937f5e38a218531dce2a89fae60e3adcc2311e1
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/95fc45d1dea8e1253f8ec58abc5befb71553d666
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c2531db6de3c95551be58878f859c6a053b7eb2e