high CVSS 7.8

CVE-2025-21858·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: geneve: Fix use-after-free in geneve_find_dev(). syzkaller reported a use-after-free in geneve_find_dev() [0] without repro. geneve_configure() links struct geneve_dev.next to net_generic(net, geneve_net_id)->geneve_list. The net here could differ from dev_net(dev) if IFLA_NET_NS_PID, IFLA_NET_NS_FD, or IFLA_TARGET_NETNSID is set. When dev_net(dev) is dismantled, geneve_exit_batch_rtnl() finally calls unregister_netdevice_queue() for each dev in the netns, and later the dev is freed. However, its geneve_dev.next is still linked to the backend UDP socket netns. Then, use-after-free will occur when another geneve dev is created in the netns. Let's call geneve_dellink() instead in geneve_destroy_tunnels(). [0]: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in geneve_find_dev drivers/net/geneve.c:1295 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in geneve_configure+0x234/0x858 drivers/net/geneve.c:1343 Read of size 2 at addr ffff000054d6ee24 by task syz.1.4029/13441 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 13441 Comm: syz.1.4029 Not tainted 6.13.0-g0ad9617c78ac #24 dc35ca22c79fb82e8e7bc5c9c9adafea898b1e3d Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) Call trace: show_stack+0x38/0x50 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:466 (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_load2_noabort+0x20/0x30 mm/kasan/report_generic.c:379 geneve_find_dev drivers/net/geneve.c:1295 [inline] geneve_configure+0x234/0x858 drivers/net/geneve.c:1343 geneve_newlink+0xb8/0x128 drivers/net/geneve.c:1634 rtnl_newlink_create+0x23c/0x868 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3795 __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline] rtnl_newlink+0x1054/0x1630 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4021 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x61c/0x918 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6911 netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543 rtnetlink_rcv+0x34/0x50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6938 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1322 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x618/0x838 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1348 netlink_sendmsg+0x5fc/0x8b0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1892 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:713 [inline] __sock_sendmsg net/socket.c:728 [inline] ____sys_sendmsg+0x410/0x6f8 net/socket.c:2568 ___sys_sendmsg+0x178/0x1d8 net/socket.c:2622 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2654 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2659 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2657 [inline] __arm64_sys_sendmsg+0x12c/0x1c8 net/socket.c:2657 __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 el0_svc+0x4c/0xa8 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:744 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x78/0x108 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:762 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x1a0 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:600 Allocated by task 13247: 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:4298 [inline] __kmalloc_node_noprof+0x2a0/0x560 mm/slub.c:4304 __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x9c/0x230 mm/util.c:645 alloc_netdev_mqs+0xb8/0x11a0 net/core/dev.c:11470 rtnl_create_link+0x2b8/0xb50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3604 rtnl_newlink_create+0x19c/0x868 net/core/rtnetlink.c:3780 __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline] rtnl_newlink+0x1054/0x1630 net/core/rtnetlink.c:4021 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x61c/0x918 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6911 netlink_rcv_skb+0x1dc/0x398 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543 rtnetlink_rcv+0x34/0x50 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6938 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_n ---truncated---

Severity
high
Software
Kernel
Fixed in
6.13.5
Published
2025-03-12

Affected versions

From: 6.13

Until: 6.13.5

Fixed in: 6.13.5

How to fix this CVE

Update your Linux kernel to version 6.13.5 or later to remediate CVE-2025-21858, a use-after-free vulnerability in the GENEVE tunnel driver. This issue occurs when network namespaces are manipulated during tunnel device creation, potentially allowing memory corruption. Apply the update immediately to systems using kernel versions 6.13.0 through 6.13.4.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

  1. Check your kernel version by running: uname -r | grep -E '^6\.13\.[0-4]' (returns match if vulnerable)
  2. Verify GENEVE module is loaded: lsmod | grep geneve (if empty, GENEVE tunnels are not in use)
  3. List active GENEVE tunnel interfaces: ip link show type geneve (confirms if GENEVE tunnels exist on the system)
  4. Confirm kernel patch is applied by checking: cat /proc/version | grep -q '6.13.5' && echo 'Patched' || echo 'Vulnerable'

FAQ

What is CVE-2025-21858?

CVE-2025-21858 is a use-after-free memory vulnerability in the Linux kernel's GENEVE tunnel driver. When a GENEVE device is destroyed after being moved to a different network namespace, dangling references remain in the original namespace's tunnel list, causing memory corruption when new tunnels are created.

Is CVE-2025-21858 being actively exploited?

No, CVE-2025-21858 is not listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits are available. However, the vulnerability was discovered through fuzzing and requires privilege to trigger network namespace manipulation.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2025-21858?

Linux kernel versions 6.13.0 through 6.13.4 are affected. Kernel 6.13.5 and later include the fix that properly calls geneve_dellink() during tunnel destruction to prevent use-after-free.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2025-21858?

Run 'uname -r' to check your kernel version. If it shows 6.13.0 through 6.13.4, you are vulnerable. Additionally, confirm GENEVE is in use by running 'lsmod | grep geneve' and 'ip link show type geneve'.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2025-21858?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If the Linux kernel is installed on a monitored server running versions 6.13.0-6.13.4, CVE-2025-21858 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-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-2024-38612CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: sr: fix invalid unregister error path The error path of seg6_init() is wrong in case CONFIG_IPV6_SEG6_LWTUNNEL is not defined. In that case if seg6_hmac_init() fails, the genl_unregister_family() isn't called. This issue exist since commit 46738b1317e1 ("ipv6: sr: add option to control lwtunnel support"), and commit 5559cea2d5aa ("ipv6: sr: fix possible use-after-free and null-ptr-deref") replaced unregister_pernet_subsys() with genl_unregister_family() in this error path.
CVE-2024-38623CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/ntfs3: Use variable length array instead of fixed size Should fix smatch warning: ntfs_set_label() error: __builtin_memcpy() 'uni->name' too small (20 vs 256)
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.

References

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