CVE-2025-68762 – net: netpoll: initialize work queue before error checks

CVE ID : CVE-2025-68762

Published : Jan. 5, 2026, 9:32 a.m. | 53 minutes ago

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

net: netpoll: initialize work queue before error checks

Prevent a kernel warning when netconsole setup fails on devices with
IFF_DISABLE_NETPOLL flag. The warning (at kernel/workqueue.c:4242 in
__flush_work) occurs because the cleanup path tries to cancel an
uninitialized work queue.

When __netpoll_setup() encounters a device with IFF_DISABLE_NETPOLL,
it fails early and calls skb_pool_flush() for cleanup. This function
calls cancel_work_sync(&np->refill_wq), but refill_wq hasn’t been
initialized yet, triggering the warning.

Move INIT_WORK() to the beginning of __netpoll_setup(), ensuring the
work queue is properly initialized before any potential failure points.
This allows the cleanup path to safely cancel the work queue regardless
of where the setup fails.

Severity: 0.0 | NA

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