CVE-2025-21868
Vulnerability Scoring
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Published on: 27 Mar 2025, 14:15 UTC
CVSS Release:
CVE-2025-21868: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: allow small head cache usage with large MAX_SKB_FRAGS values Sabrina reported the following splat: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1 at net/core/dev.c:6935 netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x8f2/0xba0 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc1-net-00092-g011b03359038 #996 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.16.3-1-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x8f2/0xba0 Code: e8 c3 e6 6a fe 48 83 c4 28 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f c3 cc cc cc cc c7 44 24 10 ff ff ff ff e9 8f fb ff ff e8 9e e6 6a fe <0f> 0b e9 d3 fe ff ff e8 92 e6 6a fe 48 8b 04 24 be ff ff ff ff 48 RSP: 0000:ffffc9000001fc60 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff88806ce48128 RCX: 1ffff11001664b9e RDX: ffff888008f00040 RSI: ffffffff8317ca42 RDI: ffff88800b325cb6 RBP: ffff88800b325c40 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed100167502c R10: ffff88800b3a8163 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff88800ac1c168 R13: ffff88800ac1c168 R14: ffff88800ac1c168 R15: 0000000000000007 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88806ce00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: ffff888008201000 CR3: 0000000004c94001 CR4: 0000000000370ef0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> gro_cells_init+0x1ba/0x270 xfrm_input_init+0x4b/0x2a0 xfrm_init+0x38/0x50 ip_rt_init+0x2d7/0x350 ip_init+0xf/0x20 inet_init+0x406/0x590 do_one_initcall+0x9d/0x2e0 do_initcalls+0x23b/0x280 kernel_init_freeable+0x445/0x490 kernel_init+0x20/0x1d0 ret_from_fork+0x46/0x80 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> irq event stamp: 584330 hardirqs last enabled at (584338): [<ffffffff8168bf87>] __up_console_sem+0x77/0xb0 hardirqs last disabled at (584345): [<ffffffff8168bf6c>] __up_console_sem+0x5c/0xb0 softirqs last enabled at (583242): [<ffffffff833ee96d>] netlink_insert+0x14d/0x470 softirqs last disabled at (583754): [<ffffffff8317c8cd>] netif_napi_add_weight_locked+0x77d/0xba0 on kernel built with MAX_SKB_FRAGS=45, where SKB_WITH_OVERHEAD(1024) is smaller than GRO_MAX_HEAD. Such built additionally contains the revert of the single page frag cache so that napi_get_frags() ends up using the page frag allocator, triggering the splat. Note that the underlying issue is independent from the mentioned revert; address it ensuring that the small head cache will fit either TCP and GRO allocation and updating napi_alloc_skb() and __netdev_alloc_skb() to select kmalloc() usage for any allocation fitting such cache.
The exploitability of CVE-2025-21868 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
No exploitability data is available for CVE-2025-21868.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2025-21868, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2025-21868, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
Unknown
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