Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2025-71120: Linux Kernel NULL pointer dereference in SUNRPC svcauth_gss

CVE-2025-71120 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.5 · Published 2026-01-14

Technologies: Linux Kernel, Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP. Vendors: Linux, Siemens.

Executive brief

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's network file sharing component could allow a local user to crash the system. The issue occurs when the system processes specific security tokens used for authentication. An exploit would result in a denial-of-service, potentially disrupting business operations and data availability.

Technical details

A NULL pointer dereference exists in the SUNRPC svcauth_gss implementation within the gss_read_proxy_verf function. When a zero-length GSS token is processed, the code fails to validate the presence of memory pages before attempting a memory copy operation. Specifically, the kernel unconditionally evaluates page_address(in_token->pages[0]), which is NULL when the token length is zero. A local attacker can trigger this condition to cause a kernel panic (Denial of Service). The issue has been addressed by adding a check to ensure the copy operation only proceeds if the length is greater than zero.

Affected products

  • Linux Linux Kernel 5866efa8cbfb to 1c8bb965e9b0559ff0f5690615a527c30f651dd8
  • Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP V3.1.6 and later

Timeline

  • 2025-01-14: disclosed
  • 2026-01-14: advisory
  • 2026-01-02: patched: Initial patch committed to stable tree

References

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