CVE-2025-39926: genetlink: fix genl_bind() invoking bind() after -EPERM

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: genetlink: fix genl_bind() invoking bind() after -EPERM Per family bind/unbind callbacks were introduced to allow families to track multicast group consumer presence, e.g. to start or stop producing events depending on listeners. However, in genl_bind() the bind() callback was invoked even if capability checks failed and ret was set to -EPERM. This means that callbacks could run on behalf of unauthorized callers while the syscall still returned failure to user space. Fix this by only invoking bind() after "if (ret) break;" check i.e. after permission checks have succeeded.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.9 before 6.12.48; from 6.13 before 6.16.8; 6.17-rc1, 6.17-rc2, 6.17-rc3, 6.17-rc4, 6.17-rc5 — fixed in 6.12.48, 6.16.8

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.12.48, 6.16.8. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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