Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2025-21787
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: team: better TEAM_OPTION_TYPE_STRING validation syzbot reported following splat [1] Make sure user-provided data contains one nul byte. [1] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in string_nocheck lib/vsprintf.c:633 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in string+0x3ec/0x5f0 lib/vsprintf.c:714 string_nocheck lib/vsprintf.c:633 [inline] string+0x3ec/0x5f0 lib/vsprintf.c:714 vsnprintf+0xa5d/0x1960 lib/vsprintf.c:2843 __request_module+0x252/0x9f0 kernel/module/kmod.c:149 team_mode_get drivers/net/team/team_core.c:480 [inline] team_change_mode drivers/net/team/team_core.c:607 [inline] team_mode_option_set+0x437/0x970 drivers/net/team/team_core.c:1401 team_option_set drivers/net/team/team_core.c:375 [inline] team_nl_options_set_doit+0x1339/0x1f90 drivers/net/team/team_core.c:2662 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:1115 [inline] genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1195 [inline] genl_rcv_msg+0x1214/0x12c0 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1210 netlink_rcv_skb+0x375/0x650 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543 genl_rcv+0x40/0x60 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1219 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1322 [inline] netlink_unicast+0xf52/0x1260 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1348 netlink_sendmsg+0x10da/0x11e0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1892 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:718 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x30f/0x380 net/socket.c:733 ____sys_sendmsg+0x877/0xb60 net/socket.c:2573 ___sys_sendmsg+0x28d/0x3c0 net/socket.c:2627 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2659 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2664 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2662 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x212/0x3c0 net/socket.c:2662 x64_sys_call+0x2ed6/0x3c30 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x1e0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
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 analysisMemory or a resource is used before it has been initialised, so its contents are whatever happened to be there — sometimes leaking earlier data, sometimes values an attacker can influence. Behaviour becomes unpredictable and occasionally exploitable. Remediation is initialising every resource before use and ensuring initialisation happens on all code paths.
General guidance for the use of uninitialized resource 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
>= 3.3, < 6.1.129>= 6.2, < 6.6.79>= 6.7, < 6.12.16>= 6.13, < 6.13.4= 6.14CVSS 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 · scoped6.1.1296.6.796.12.16
Linux Kernel 6.13.4 (or 6.12.16, 6.6.79, or 6.1.129 for respective branches)
- Check current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- Download and install a kernel version >= 6.13.4 (or 6.12.16, 6.6.79, or 6.1.129 depending on your branch preference)
- Reboot the system to load the new kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking that 'git log --oneline' includes commit 4236bf471658 or by confirming the kernel version is >= one of the fixed releases
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-21787 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-21787 in production — separate from our analysis above.
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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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