Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21663

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-21

Fix available

A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.6.72 / 6.12.10 or later.

See remediation →

57/100

Remediation priority · Elevated

Zero-click Patch available

Official description

NVD · unedited

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: stmmac: dwmac-tegra: Read iommu stream id from device tree Nvidia's Tegra MGBE controllers require the IOMMU "Stream ID" (SID) to be written to the MGBE_WRAP_AXI_ASID0_CTRL register. The current driver is hard coded to use MGBE0's SID for all controllers. This causes softirq time outs and kernel panics when using controllers other than MGBE0. Example dmesg errors when an ethernet cable is connected to MGBE1: [ 116.133290] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx [ 121.851283] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: NETDEV WATCHDOG: CPU: 5: transmit queue 0 timed out 5690 ms [ 121.851782] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: Reset adapter. [ 121.892464] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: Register MEM_TYPE_PAGE_POOL RxQ-0 [ 121.905920] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: PHY [stmmac-1:00] driver [Aquantia AQR113] (irq=171) [ 121.907356] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: Enabling Safety Features [ 121.907578] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: IEEE 1588-2008 Advanced Timestamp supported [ 121.908399] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: registered PTP clock [ 121.908582] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: configuring for phy/10gbase-r link mode [ 125.961292] tegra-mgbe 6910000.ethernet eth1: Link is Up - 1Gbps/Full - flow control rx/tx [ 181.921198] rcu: INFO: rcu_preempt detected stalls on CPUs/tasks: [ 181.921404] rcu: 7-....: (1 GPs behind) idle=540c/1/0x4000000000000002 softirq=1748/1749 fqs=2337 [ 181.921684] rcu: (detected by 4, t=6002 jiffies, g=1357, q=1254 ncpus=8) [ 181.921878] Sending NMI from CPU 4 to CPUs 7: [ 181.921886] NMI backtrace for cpu 7 [ 181.922131] CPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/7 Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.13.0-rc3+ #6 [ 181.922390] Hardware name: NVIDIA CTI Forge + Orin AGX/Jetson, BIOS 202402.1-Unknown 10/28/2024 [ 181.922658] pstate: 40400009 (nZcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 181.922847] pc : handle_softirqs+0x98/0x368 [ 181.922978] lr : __do_softirq+0x18/0x20 [ 181.923095] sp : ffff80008003bf50 [ 181.923189] x29: ffff80008003bf50 x28: 0000000000000008 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 181.923379] x26: ffffce78ea277000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000001c61befda0 [ 181.924486] x23: 0000000060400009 x22: ffffce78e99918bc x21: ffff80008018bd70 [ 181.925568] x20: ffffce78e8bb00d8 x19: ffff80008018bc20 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 181.926655] x17: ffff318ebe7d3000 x16: ffff800080038000 x15: 0000000000000000 [ 181.931455] x14: ffff000080816680 x13: ffff318ebe7d3000 x12: 000000003464d91d [ 181.938628] x11: 0000000000000040 x10: ffff000080165a70 x9 : ffffce78e8bb0160 [ 181.945804] x8 : ffff8000827b3160 x7 : f9157b241586f343 x6 : eeb6502a01c81c74 [ 181.953068] x5 : a4acfcdd2e8096bb x4 : ffffce78ea277340 x3 : 00000000ffffd1e1 [ 181.960329] x2 : 0000000000000101 x1 : ffffce78ea277340 x0 : ffff318ebe7d3000 [ 181.967591] Call trace: [ 181.970043] handle_softirqs+0x98/0x368 (P) [ 181.974240] __do_softirq+0x18/0x20 [ 181.977743] ____do_softirq+0x14/0x28 [ 181.981415] call_on_irq_stack+0x24/0x30 [ 181.985180] do_softirq_own_stack+0x20/0x30 [ 181.989379] __irq_exit_rcu+0x114/0x140 [ 181.993142] irq_exit_rcu+0x14/0x28 [ 181.996816] el1_interrupt+0x44/0xb8 [ 182.000316] el1h_64_irq_handler+0x14/0x20 [ 182.004343] el1h_64_irq+0x80/0x88 [ 182.007755] cpuidle_enter_state+0xc4/0x4a8 (P) [ 182.012305] cpuidle_enter+0x3c/0x58 [ 182.015980] cpuidle_idle_call+0x128/0x1c0 [ 182.020005] do_idle+0xe0/0xf0 [ 182.023155] cpu_startup_entry+0x3c/0x48 [ 182.026917] secondary_start_kernel+0xdc/0x120 [ 182.031379] __secondary_switched+0x74/0x78 [ 212.971162] rcu: INFO: rcu_preempt detected expedited stalls on CPUs/tasks: { 7-.... } 6103 jiffies s: 417 root: 0x80/. [ 212.985935] rcu: blocking rcu_node structures (internal RCU debug): [ 212.992758] Sending NMI from CPU 0 to CPUs 7: [ 212.998539] NMI backtrace for cpu 7 [ 213.004304] CPU: 7 UID: 0 PI ---truncated---

Technical summary

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions

NVD · CPE data

Linux KernelOperating system

Affected:>= 6.2, < 6.6.72>= 6.7, < 6.12.10= 6.13

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation

dbcve · scoped

Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.6.72 / 6.12.10 or later

Fixed in 6.6.726.12.10

Vendor patch git.kernel.org →

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel >= 6.6.72 (for 6.2-6.6.x branch), >= 6.12.10 (for 6.7-6.12.x branch), or >= 6.13.1 (for 6.13.x branch)

1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
2. Determine which major kernel branch your version belongs to (e.g., 6.6.x, 6.12.x, or 6.13.x)
3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed version: for 6.2-6.6.x kernels upgrade to >= 6.6.72; for 6.7-6.12.x kernels upgrade to >= 6.12.10; for 6.13.x kernels upgrade to >= 6.13.1
4. Update bootloader configuration if necessary to ensure the new kernel is selected on next boot
5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
6. Verify the fix is applied by checking that the dwmac-tegra driver now correctly reads the IOMMU stream ID from device tree (kernel log should show no more NETDEV WATCHDOG errors for non-MGBE0 controllers)

Caveat Kernel upgrades carry standard risk; ensure compatibility with userspace and hardware drivers before rebooting

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References

Primary sources

git.kernel.orgPatch / commit
git.kernel.orgPatch
git.kernel.orgPatch
git.kernel.orgPatch
nvd.nist.govNVD record

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-21663 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2025-21663?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here

Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data

At a glance

A fix existsUpgrade to 6.6.72 / 6.12.10 or later

Severity 5.5 Medium

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 0.4%

Affects: Linux Kernel

Remediation

Need this fixed?

Get a fix

Estimated effortfrom ~9 hrs

ComplexityModerate

Typical engagementfrom $1,600

What a fix involves

We scope it with you and confirm a fixed quote
A specialist builds a reviewed fix
You deploy it to staging first
Optional re-test once it’s live

We specialise in CVE remediation. Send your environment and we’ll scope CVE-2025-21663 and return a fixed quote.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Remediation

References