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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21862

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.130 / 6.6.80 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: drop_monitor: fix incorrect initialization order Syzkaller reports the following bug: BUG: spinlock bad magic on CPU#1, syz-executor.0/7995 lock: 0xffff88805303f3e0, .magic: 00000000, .owner: <none>/-1, .owner_cpu: 0 CPU: 1 PID: 7995 Comm: syz-executor.0 Tainted: G E 5.10.209+ #1 Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 11/12/2020 Call Trace: __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:77 [inline] dump_stack+0x119/0x179 lib/dump_stack.c:118 debug_spin_lock_before kernel/locking/spinlock_debug.c:83 [inline] do_raw_spin_lock+0x1f6/0x270 kernel/locking/spinlock_debug.c:112 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave include/linux/spinlock_api_smp.h:117 [inline] _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x50/0x70 kernel/locking/spinlock.c:159 reset_per_cpu_data+0xe6/0x240 [drop_monitor] net_dm_cmd_trace+0x43d/0x17a0 [drop_monitor] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x22f/0x330 net/netlink/genetlink.c:739 genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:783 [inline] genl_rcv_msg+0x341/0x5a0 net/netlink/genetlink.c:800 netlink_rcv_skb+0x14d/0x440 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2497 genl_rcv+0x29/0x40 net/netlink/genetlink.c:811 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1322 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x54b/0x800 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1348 netlink_sendmsg+0x914/0xe00 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1916 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:651 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x157/0x190 net/socket.c:663 ____sys_sendmsg+0x712/0x870 net/socket.c:2378 ___sys_sendmsg+0xf8/0x170 net/socket.c:2432 __sys_sendmsg+0xea/0x1b0 net/socket.c:2461 do_syscall_64+0x30/0x40 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x62/0xc7 RIP: 0033:0x7f3f9815aee9 Code: ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 b0 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007f3f972bf0c8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002e RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f3f9826d050 RCX: 00007f3f9815aee9 RDX: 0000000020000000 RSI: 0000000020001300 RDI: 0000000000000007 RBP: 00007f3f981b63bd R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 000000000000006e R14: 00007f3f9826d050 R15: 00007ffe01ee6768 If drop_monitor is built as a kernel module, syzkaller may have time to send a netlink NET_DM_CMD_START message during the module loading. This will call the net_dm_monitor_start() function that uses a spinlock that has not yet been initialized. To fix this, let's place resource initialization above the registration of a generic netlink family. Found by InfoTeCS on behalf of Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

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-908

Memory 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
Affected:>= 2.6.30, < 6.1.130>= 6.2, < 6.6.80>= 6.7, < 6.12.17>= 6.13, < 6.13.5= 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
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 6.1.130 / 6.6.80 / 6.12.17 or later
Fixed in 6.1.1306.6.806.12.17
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.1.130 / 6.6.80 / 6.12.17 / 6.13.5 (or later stable release)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Check if your kernel version falls within the affected range: < 6.1.130, < 6.6.80, < 6.12.17, or < 6.13.5
  3. Upgrade to a fixed kernel version: 6.1.130+ (for 6.1.x), 6.6.80+ (for 6.2-6.6.x), 6.12.17+ (for 6.7-6.12.x), or 6.13.5+ (for 6.13.x)
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get update && apt-get upgrade linux-image-generic
  5. On RHEL/CentOS: yum update kernel
  6. On Fedora: dnf update kernel
  7. Reboot the system to apply the new kernel
  8. Verify the fix by checking kernel version with 'uname -r'
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have compatibility implications with custom kernel modules or specific hardware 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

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