high CVSS 7.8

CVE-2025-21735·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: NFC: nci: Add bounds checking in nci_hci_create_pipe() The "pipe" variable is a u8 which comes from the network. If it's more than 127, then it results in memory corruption in the caller, nci_hci_connect_gate().

Severity
high
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
6.13.3
Published
2025-02-27

Affected versions

From: 6.13

Until: 6.13.3

Fixed in: 6.13.3

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 6.13.3 or later to remediate this memory corruption vulnerability in the NFC subsystem. The vulnerability allows local attackers with sufficient privileges to corrupt kernel memory by sending specially crafted NFC packets with out-of-bounds pipe identifiers. Prioritize this update if your system uses NFC hardware or supports NFC-over-USB connectivity.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Step 1: Check your current kernel version by running `uname -r` and compare against 6.13.3 — versions 6.13.0 through 6.13.2 are vulnerable.
  2. Step 2: Verify if NFC subsystem is loaded by running `lsmod | grep nfc` — if no output appears, the vulnerable code path is not active.
  3. Step 3: Search kernel logs for NFC errors with `sudo dmesg | grep -i 'nci\|nfc'` or `sudo journalctl -u kernel | grep -i 'nci'` — memory corruption may appear as segfaults or oops messages.
  4. Step 4: After patching, reboot your system with `sudo reboot` and verify the new kernel version with `uname -r` to confirm 6.13.3 or later is running.

FAQ

What is CVE-2025-21735?

This vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's NFC subsystem, specifically in the `nci_hci_create_pipe()` function which fails to validate pipe identifiers. An attacker with local privileges can trigger memory corruption by supplying an out-of-bounds pipe value, potentially leading to privilege escalation or system crash.

Is CVE-2025-21735 being actively exploited?

No, CVE-2025-21735 is not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits are available. However, as a local privilege escalation vector in the kernel, it should still be prioritized for patching.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2025-21735?

Linux kernel versions 6.13.0 through 6.13.2 are vulnerable. The fix is included in kernel version 6.13.3 and all subsequent releases.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2025-21735?

Run `uname -r` to display your kernel version — if the output shows 6.13.0, 6.13.1, or 6.13.2, your system is vulnerable and requires immediate kernel upgrade.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2025-21735?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2025-21735 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2024-42256CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: Fix server re-repick on subrequest retry When a subrequest is marked for needing retry, netfs will call cifs_prepare_write() which will make cifs repick the server for the op before renegotiating credits; it then calls cifs_issue_write() which invokes smb2_async_writev() - which re-repicks the server. If a different server is then selected, this causes the increment of server->in_flight to happen against one record and the decrement to happen against another, leading to misaccounting. Fix this by just removing the repick code in smb2_async_writev(). As this is only called from netfslib-driven code, cifs_prepare_write() should always have been called first, and so server should never be NULL and the preparatory step is repeated in the event that we do a retry. The problem manifests as a warning looking something like: WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 72896 at fs/smb/client/smb2ops.c:97 smb2_add_credits+0x3f0/0x9e0 [cifs] ... RIP: 0010:smb2_add_credits+0x3f0/0x9e0 [cifs] ... smb2_writev_callback+0x334/0x560 [cifs] cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x77a/0x11b0 [cifs] kthread+0x187/0x1d0 ret_from_fork+0x34/0x60 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Which may be triggered by a number of different xfstests running against an Azure server in multichannel mode. generic/249 seems the most repeatable, but generic/215, generic/249 and generic/308 may also show it.
CVE-2022-48716CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ASoC: codecs: wcd938x: fix incorrect used of portid Mixer controls have the channel id in mixer->reg, which is not same as port id. port id should be derived from chan_info array. So fix this. Without this, its possible that we could corrupt struct wcd938x_sdw_priv by accessing port_map array out of range with channel id instead of port id.
CVE-2021-47548CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethernet: hisilicon: hns: hns_dsaf_misc: fix a possible array overflow in hns_dsaf_ge_srst_by_port() The if statement: if (port >= DSAF_GE_NUM) return; limits the value of port less than DSAF_GE_NUM (i.e., 8). However, if the value of port is 6 or 7, an array overflow could occur: port_rst_off = dsaf_dev->mac_cb[port]->port_rst_off; because the length of dsaf_dev->mac_cb is DSAF_MAX_PORT_NUM (i.e., 6). To fix this possible array overflow, we first check port and if it is greater than or equal to DSAF_MAX_PORT_NUM, the function returns.
CVE-2024-36031CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: keys: Fix overwrite of key expiration on instantiation The expiry time of a key is unconditionally overwritten during instantiation, defaulting to turn it permanent. This causes a problem for DNS resolution as the expiration set by user-space is overwritten to TIME64_MAX, disabling further DNS updates. Fix this by restoring the condition that key_set_expiry is only called when the pre-parser sets a specific expiry.
CVE-2024-38541CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: of: module: add buffer overflow check in of_modalias() In of_modalias(), if the buffer happens to be too small even for the 1st snprintf() call, the len parameter will become negative and str parameter (if not NULL initially) will point beyond the buffer's end. Add the buffer overflow check after the 1st snprintf() call and fix such check after the strlen() call (accounting for the terminating NUL char).

References

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