Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21886

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.18 / 6.13.6 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: RDMA/mlx5: Fix implicit ODP hang on parent deregistration Fix the destroy_unused_implicit_child_mr() to prevent hanging during parent deregistration as of below [1]. Upon entering destroy_unused_implicit_child_mr(), the reference count for the implicit MR parent is incremented using: refcount_inc_not_zero(). A corresponding decrement must be performed if free_implicit_child_mr_work() is not called. The code has been updated to properly manage the reference count that was incremented. [1] INFO: task python3:2157 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Not tainted 6.12.0-rc7+ #1633 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:python3 state:D stack:0 pid:2157 tgid:2157 ppid:1685 flags:0x00000000 Call Trace: <TASK> __schedule+0x420/0xd30 schedule+0x47/0x130 __mlx5_ib_dereg_mr+0x379/0x5d0 [mlx5_ib] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 ib_dereg_mr_user+0x5f/0x120 [ib_core] ? lock_release+0xc6/0x280 destroy_hw_idr_uobject+0x1d/0x60 [ib_uverbs] uverbs_destroy_uobject+0x58/0x1d0 [ib_uverbs] uobj_destroy+0x3f/0x70 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_cmd_verbs+0x3e4/0xbb0 [ib_uverbs] ? __pfx_uverbs_destroy_def_handler+0x10/0x10 [ib_uverbs] ? lock_acquire+0xc1/0x2f0 ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0x116/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? lock_release+0xc6/0x280 ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xe7/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x1b0/0xa70 ? kmem_cache_free+0x221/0x400 do_syscall_64+0x6b/0x140 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e RIP: 0033:0x7f20f21f017b RSP: 002b:00007ffcfc4a77c8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ffcfc4a78d8 RCX: 00007f20f21f017b RDX: 00007ffcfc4a78c0 RSI: 00000000c0181b01 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007ffcfc4a78a0 R08: 000056147d125190 R09: 00007f20f1f14c60 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffcfc4a7890 R13: 000000000000001c R14: 000056147d100fc0 R15: 00007f20e365c9d0 </TASK>

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:>= 6.12.13, < 6.12.18>= 6.13.2, < 6.13.6= 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 6.12.18 / 6.13.6 or later
Fixed in 6.12.186.13.6
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.12.18+ / 6.13.6+ / 6.14.1+

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. If running 6.12.x and version < 6.12.18, plan upgrade to 6.12.18 or later
  3. If running 6.13.x and version < 6.13.6, plan upgrade to 6.13.6 or later
  4. If running 6.14.x, upgrade to 6.14.1 or later which includes the fix from commit 3d8c6f26893d55fab218ad086719de1fc9bb86ba
  5. Apply the upgrade via distribution package manager (e.g., 'apt-get dist-upgrade', 'yum update', or equivalent)
  6. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  7. Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r'
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply - ensure compatibility with custom drivers, modules, and userspace software that depend on specific kernel versions or APIs

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-2025-21886 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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