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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21796

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.235 / 5.15.179 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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: nfsd: clear acl_access/acl_default after releasing them If getting acl_default fails, acl_access and acl_default will be released simultaneously. However, acl_access will still retain a pointer pointing to the released posix_acl, which will trigger a WARNING in nfs3svc_release_getacl like this: ------------[ cut here ]------------ refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. WARNING: CPU: 26 PID: 3199 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xb5/0x170 Modules linked in: CPU: 26 UID: 0 PID: 3199 Comm: nfsd Not tainted 6.12.0-rc6-00079-g04ae226af01f-dirty #8 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.1-2.fc37 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0xb5/0x170 Code: cc cc 0f b6 1d b3 20 a5 03 80 fb 01 0f 87 65 48 d8 00 83 e3 01 75 e4 48 c7 c7 c0 3b 9b 85 c6 05 97 20 a5 03 01 e8 fb 3e 30 ff <0f> 0b eb cd 0f b6 1d 8a3 RSP: 0018:ffffc90008637cd8 EFLAGS: 00010282 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: ffffffff83904fde RDX: dffffc0000000000 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffff88871ed36380 RBP: ffff888158beeb40 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: fffff520010c6f56 R10: ffffc90008637ab7 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000000000001 R13: ffff888140e77400 R14: ffff888140e77408 R15: ffffffff858b42c0 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88871ed00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000562384d32158 CR3: 000000055cc6a000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb5/0x170 ? __warn+0xa5/0x140 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb5/0x170 ? report_bug+0x1b1/0x1e0 ? handle_bug+0x53/0xa0 ? exc_invalid_op+0x17/0x40 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1a/0x20 ? tick_nohz_tick_stopped+0x1e/0x40 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb5/0x170 ? refcount_warn_saturate+0xb5/0x170 nfs3svc_release_getacl+0xc9/0xe0 svc_process_common+0x5db/0xb60 ? __pfx_svc_process_common+0x10/0x10 ? __rcu_read_unlock+0x69/0xa0 ? __pfx_nfsd_dispatch+0x10/0x10 ? svc_xprt_received+0xa1/0x120 ? xdr_init_decode+0x11d/0x190 svc_process+0x2a7/0x330 svc_handle_xprt+0x69d/0x940 svc_recv+0x180/0x2d0 nfsd+0x168/0x200 ? __pfx_nfsd+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x1a2/0x1e0 ? kthread+0xf4/0x1e0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x34/0x60 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Kernel panic - not syncing: kernel: panic_on_warn set ... Clear acl_access/acl_default after posix_acl_release is called to prevent UAF from being triggered.

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-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free 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:>= 2.6.13, < 5.10.235>= 5.11, < 5.15.179>= 5.16, < 6.1.129>= 6.2, < 6.6.79>= 6.7, < 6.12.16>= 6.13, < 6.13.4= 6.14

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 5.10.235 / 5.15.179 / 6.1.129 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2355.15.1796.1.129
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.10.235 / 5.15.179 / 6.1.129 / 6.6.79 (or later stable releases)

  1. 1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Determine which kernel branch your system is using (e.g., 5.10.x, 5.15.x, 6.1.x, or 6.6.x)
  3. 3. Upgrade to the first fixed version in your kernel branch: For 5.10.x series upgrade to 5.10.235 or later; For 5.15.x series upgrade to 5.15.179 or later; For 6.1.x series upgrade to 6.1.129 or later; For 6.6.x series upgrade to 6.6.79 or later
  4. 4. For enterprise distributions, apply the vendor's kernel security update which includes this upstream commit 1fd94884174bd20beb1773990fd3b1aa877688d9
  5. 5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  6. 6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches the fixed release and confirming the nfsd module loads without warnings
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce regressions in driver compatibility; test in staging environment before production deployment

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 $3,550. 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-2025-21796 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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