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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21683

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.177 / 6.1.127 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

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.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix bpf_sk_select_reuseport() memory leak As pointed out in the original comment, lookup in sockmap can return a TCP ESTABLISHED socket. Such TCP socket may have had SO_ATTACH_REUSEPORT_EBPF set before it was ESTABLISHED. In other words, a non-NULL sk_reuseport_cb does not imply a non-refcounted socket. Drop sk's reference in both error paths. unreferenced object 0xffff888101911800 (size 2048): comm "test_progs", pid 44109, jiffies 4297131437 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 80 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace (crc 9336483b): __kmalloc_noprof+0x3bf/0x560 __reuseport_alloc+0x1d/0x40 reuseport_alloc+0xca/0x150 reuseport_attach_prog+0x87/0x140 sk_reuseport_attach_bpf+0xc8/0x100 sk_setsockopt+0x1181/0x1990 do_sock_setsockopt+0x12b/0x160 __sys_setsockopt+0x7b/0xc0 __x64_sys_setsockopt+0x1b/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x93/0x180 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

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.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.8, < 5.15.177>= 5.16, < 6.1.127>= 6.2, < 6.6.74>= 6.7, < 6.12.11= 6.13

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.

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 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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.15.177 / 6.1.127 / 6.6.74 or later
Fixed in 5.15.1776.1.1276.6.74
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

5.15.177, 6.1.127, 6.6.74, or 6.12.11 (whichever corresponds to your current kernel branch)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which version range your current kernel falls into from the affected versions list
  3. Upgrade to the appropriate fixed kernel version: 5.15.177, 6.1.127, 6.6.74, or 6.12.11 depending on your current branch
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu: `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade linux-image-generic`
  5. On RHEL/CentOS: `sudo yum update kernel`
  6. On Fedora: `sudo dnf update kernel`
  7. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel: `sudo reboot`
  8. Verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r`
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or older drivers; test in staging environment first

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

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-21683 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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
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