CVE-2025-39925: can: j1939: implement NETDEV_UNREGISTER notification handler

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-10-01 · updated 2026-10-19

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: j1939: implement NETDEV_UNREGISTER notification handler syzbot is reporting unregister_netdevice: waiting for vcan0 to become free. Usage count = 2 problem, for j1939 protocol did not have NETDEV_UNREGISTER notification handler for undoing changes made by j1939_sk_bind(). Commit 25fe97cb7620 ("can: j1939: move j1939_priv_put() into sk_destruct callback") expects that a call to j1939_priv_put() can be unconditionally delayed until j1939_sk_sock_destruct() is called. But we need to call j1939_priv_put() against an extra ref held by j1939_sk_bind() call (as a part of undoing changes made by j1939_sk_bind()) as soon as NETDEV_UNREGISTER notification fires (i.e. before j1939_sk_sock_destruct() is called via j1939_sk_release()). Otherwise, the extra ref on "struct j1939_priv" held by j1939_sk_bind() call prevents "struct net_device" from dropping the usage count to 1; making it impossible for unregister_netdevice() to continue. [mkl: remove space in front of label]

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 5.4 before 6.16.8; 6.17-rc1, 6.17-rc2, 6.17-rc3, 6.17-rc4, 6.17-rc5 — fixed in 6.16.8

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.16.8. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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