Linux: Use After Free
CVE-2025-21652 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions ba9f7c16ec879c83bb4f80406773a911aace8267, 52a24538d569f48e79d1a169a5d359d384152950, cb358ff94154774d031159b018adf45e17673941 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.21% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to ba9f7c16ec879c83bb4f80406773a911aace8267 or 52a24538d569f48e79d1a169a5d359d384152950 or cb358ff94154774d031159b018adf45e17673941, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
- Update Linux Kernel to 6.6.72 or 6.12.10, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 8c55facecd7ade835287298ce325f930d888d8ec up to, but not including, ba9f7c16ec879c83bb4f80406773a911aace8267; 8c55facecd7ade835287298ce325f930d888d8ec up to, but not including, 52a24538d569f48e79d1a169a5d359d384152950; 8c55facecd7ade835287298ce325f930d888d8ec up to, but not including, cb358ff94154774d031159b018adf45e17673941; 6.2 | ba9f7c16ec879c83bb4f80406773a911aace8267, 52a24538d569f48e79d1a169a5d359d384152950, cb358ff94154774d031159b018adf45e17673941 |
| Linux | Linux Kernel | 6.2 up to, but not including, 6.6.72; 6.7 up to, but not including, 6.12.10; 6.13 | 6.6.72, 6.12.10 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CISA (ADP) |
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipvlan: Fix use-after-free in ipvlan_get_iflink(). syzbot presented an use-after-free report [0] regarding ipvlan and linkwatch. ipvlan does not hold a refcnt of the lower device unlike vlan and macvlan. If the linkwatch work is triggered for the ipvlan dev, the lower dev might have already been freed, resulting in UAF of ipvlan->phy_dev in ipvlan_get_iflink(). We can delay the lower dev unregistration like vlan and macvlan by holding the lower dev's refcnt in dev->netdev_ops->ndo_init() and releasing it in dev->priv_destructor(). Jakub pointed out calling .ndo_XXX after unregister_netdevice() has returned is error prone and suggested [1] addressing this UAF in the core by taking commit 750e51603395 ("net: avoid potential UAF in default_operstate()") further. Let's assume unregistering devices DOWN and use RCU protection in default_operstate() not to race with the device unregistration. [0]: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ipvlan_get_iflink+0x84/0x88 drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_main.c:353 Read of size 4 at addr ffff0000d768c0e0 by task kworker/u8:35/6944 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6944 Comm: kworker/u8:35 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc2-g9bc5c9515b48 #12 4c3cb9e8b4565456f6a355f312ff91f4f29b3c47 Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Workqueue: events_unbound linkwatch_event Call trace: show_stack+0x38/0x50 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:484 (C) __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0xbc/0x108 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0x16c/0x6f0 mm/kasan/report.c:489 kasan_report+0xc0/0x120 mm/kasan/report.c:602 __asan_report_load4_noabort+0x20/0x30 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:380 ipvlan_get_iflink+0x84/0x88 drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_main.c:353 dev_get_iflink+0x7c/0xd8 net/core/dev.c:674 default_operstate net/core/link_watch.c:45 [inline] rfc2863_policy+0x144/0x360 net/core/link_watch.c:72 linkwatch_do_dev+0x60/0x228 net/core/link_watch.c:175 __linkwatch_run_queue+0x2f4/0x5b8 net/core/link_watch.c:239 linkwatch_event+0x64/0xa8 net/core/link_watch.c:282 process_one_work+0x700/0x1398 kernel/workqueue.c:3229 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3310 [inline] worker_thread+0x8c4/0xe10 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x2b0/0x360 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:862 Allocated by task 9303: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x30/0x68 mm/kasan/common.c:68 kasan_save_alloc_info+0x44/0x58 mm/kasan/generic.c:568 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0x84/0xa0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:4283 [inline] __kmalloc_node_noprof+0x2a0/0x560 mm/slub.c:4289 __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x9c/0x230 mm/util.c:650 alloc_netdev_mqs+0xb4/0x1118 net/core/dev.c:11209 rtnl_create_link+0x2b8/0xb60 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3595 rtnl_newlink_create+0x19c/0x868 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3771 __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3896 [inline] rtnl_newlink+0x122c/0x15c0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4011 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x61c/0x918 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6901 netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2542 rtnetlink_rcv+0x34/0x50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6928 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1321 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x618/0x838 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1347 netlink_sendmsg+0x5fc/0x8b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1891 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:711 [inline] __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:726 [inline] __sys_sendto+0x2ec/0x438 net/socket.c:2197 __do_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2204 [inline] __se_sys_sendto net/socket.c:2200 [inline] __arm64_sys_sendto+0xe4/0x110 net/socket.c:2200 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline] invoke_syscall+0x90/0x278 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49 el0_svc_common+0x13c/0x250 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132 do_el0_svc+0x54/0x70 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151 el ---truncated---
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Use After Free
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory belongs to the code that operates on the new pointer.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
- When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent Use After Free vulnerabilities
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