CVE-2025-23155: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: stmmac: Fix accessing freed irq affinity_hint In stmmac_request_irq_multi

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: stmmac: Fix accessing freed irq affinity_hint In stmmac_request_irq_multi_msi(), a po

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: stmmac: Fix accessing freed irq affinity_hint In stmmac_request_irq_multi_msi(), a pointer to the stack variable cpu_mask is passed to irq_set_affinity_hint(). This value is stored in irq_desc->affinity_hint, but once stmmac_request_irq_multi_msi() returns, the pointer becomes dangling. The affinity_hint is exposed via procfs with S_IRUGO permissions, allowing any unprivileged process to read it. Accessing this stale pointer can lead to: - a kernel oops or panic if the referenced memory has been released and unmapped, or - leakage of kernel data into userspace if the memory is re-used for other purposes. All platforms that use stmmac with PCI MSI (Intel, Loongson, etc) are affected.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.21%, higher than 10% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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