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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21696

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.11 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: mm: clear uffd-wp PTE/PMD state on mremap() When mremap()ing a memory region previously registered with userfaultfd as write-protected but without UFFD_FEATURE_EVENT_REMAP, an inconsistency in flag clearing leads to a mismatch between the vma flags (which have uffd-wp cleared) and the pte/pmd flags (which do not have uffd-wp cleared). This mismatch causes a subsequent mprotect(PROT_WRITE) to trigger a warning in page_table_check_pte_flags() due to setting the pte to writable while uffd-wp is still set. Fix this by always explicitly clearing the uffd-wp pte/pmd flags on any such mremap() so that the values are consistent with the existing clearing of VM_UFFD_WP. Be careful to clear the logical flag regardless of its physical form; a PTE bit, a swap PTE bit, or a PTE marker. Cover PTE, huge PMD and hugetlb paths.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 5.7, < 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 6.12.11 or later
Fixed in 6.12.11
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.12.11+ or 6.14+

  1. Identify the current Linux kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.12.11 or later in the 6.12.x stable series, or to version 6.14 or later
  3. Update the boot loader configuration if necessary to ensure the new kernel is selected on next boot
  4. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r'
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel modules and could introduce compatibility changes with userspace software; ensure backup and test in non-production 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-2025-21696 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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