{ "dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.2", "cveMetadata": { "cveId": "CVE-2025-21851", "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "state": "PUBLISHED", "assignerShortName": "Linux", "dateReserved": "2024-12-29T08:45:45.779Z", "datePublished": "2025-03-12T09:42:06.480Z", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:54:55.041Z" }, "containers": { "cna": { "providerMetadata": { "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67", "shortName": "Linux", "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T11:54:55.041Z" }, "descriptions": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nbpf: Fix softlockup in arena_map_free on 64k page kernel\n\nOn an aarch64 kernel with CONFIG_PAGE_SIZE_64KB=y,\narena_htab tests cause a segmentation fault and soft lockup.\nThe same failure is not observed with 4k pages on aarch64.\n\nIt turns out arena_map_free() is calling\napply_to_existing_page_range() with the address returned by\nbpf_arena_get_kern_vm_start(). If this address is not page-aligned\nthe code ends up calling apply_to_pte_range() with that unaligned\naddress causing soft lockup.\n\nFix it by round up GUARD_SZ to PAGE_SIZE << 1 so that the\ndivision by 2 in bpf_arena_get_kern_vm_start() returns\na page-aligned value." } ], "metrics": [ { "cvssV3_1": { "version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "baseScore": 7.8, "baseSeverity": "HIGH" }, "scenarios": [ { "lang": "en", "value": "AV:L - The vulnerability is reached through the bpf(2) syscall — creating a BPF_MAP_TYPE_ARENA map, mmap()ing it, faulting in a page, and closing the fd. No network exposure is involved.\nAC:L - On an affected kernel (arm64 with 64K pages, a mainstream aarch64 distro/server configuration), the unaligned base address makes the non-terminating apply_to_pte_range() loop trigger 100% deterministically with a trivial 4-step sequence; there is no race or memory-layout condition to win.\nPR:L - Arena map creation requires CAP_BPF, but bpf_token_capable() resolves via ns_capable(token->userns, CAP_BPF), so a delegated BPF token or a container granted CAP_BPF lets an otherwise unprivileged user reach it; this is a delegatable capability, not init-namespace root.\nUI:N - The attacker performs the entire sequence — map create, mmap, page touch, fd close — in their own process. No victim action is required.\nS:U - The infinite loop, out-of-bounds page-table walk, and page frees all occur within the kernel's own security authority; no VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary is crossed.\nC:H - Once pte++ walks past the end of the PTE page, arbitrary kernel memory is read and interpreted as page-table entries, and __free_page() on garbage-derived struct pages releases in-use pages for reallocation, which is leverageable for disclosure of other tasks' data.\nI:H - existing_page_cb() calls __free_page() on struct page pointers decoded from out-of-bounds memory, corrupting page refcounts and prematurely freeing live pages — a use-after-free primitive suitable for heap grooming and control-flow hijacking.\nA:H - The `while (addr += PAGE_SIZE, addr != end)` loop can never terminate, producing a soft lockup/RCU stall inside a lazy-MMU section on a system workqueue, hanging the machine; the stray page frees compound this into a panic." } ] } ], "affected": [ { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "unaffected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "kernel/bpf/arena.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "317460317a02a1af512697e6e964298dedd8a163", "lessThan": "c1f3f3892d4526f18aaeffdb6068ce861e793ee3", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "317460317a02a1af512697e6e964298dedd8a163", "lessThan": "787d556a3de447e70964a4bdeba9196f62a62b1e", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" }, { "version": "317460317a02a1af512697e6e964298dedd8a163", "lessThan": "517e8a7835e8cfb398a0aeb0133de50e31cae32b", "status": "affected", "versionType": "git" } ] }, { "product": "Linux", "vendor": "Linux", "defaultStatus": "affected", "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git", "programFiles": [ "kernel/bpf/arena.c" ], "versions": [ { "version": "6.9", "status": "affected" }, { "version": "0", "lessThan": "6.9", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.12.17", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.13.5", "lessThanOrEqual": "6.13.*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "semver" }, { "version": "6.14", "lessThanOrEqual": "*", "status": "unaffected", "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix" } ] } ], "cpeApplicability": [ { "nodes": [ { "operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [ { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.9", "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.17" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.9", "versionEndExcluding": "6.13.5" }, { "vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "6.9", "versionEndExcluding": "6.14" } ] } ] } ], "references": [ { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c1f3f3892d4526f18aaeffdb6068ce861e793ee3" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/787d556a3de447e70964a4bdeba9196f62a62b1e" }, { "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/517e8a7835e8cfb398a0aeb0133de50e31cae32b" } ], "title": "bpf: Fix softlockup in arena_map_free on 64k page kernel", "x_generator": { "engine": "bippy-1.2.0" } }, "adp": [ { "metrics": [ { "cvssV3_1": { "scope": "UNCHANGED", "version": "3.1", "baseScore": 3.3, "attackVector": "LOCAL", "baseSeverity": "LOW", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L", "integrityImpact": "NONE", "userInteraction": "NONE", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "availabilityImpact": "LOW", "privilegesRequired": "LOW", "confidentialityImpact": "NONE" } }, { "other": { "type": "ssvc", "content": { "id": "CVE-2025-21851", "role": "CISA Coordinator", "options": [ { "Exploitation": "none" }, { "Automatable": "no" }, { "Technical Impact": "partial" } ], "version": "2.0.3", "timestamp": "2025-10-01T19:26:12.815420Z" } } } ], "problemTypes": [ { "descriptions": [ { "lang": "en", "type": "CWE", "cweId": "CWE-667", "description": "CWE-667 Improper Locking" } ] } ], "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment", "providerMetadata": { "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0", "shortName": "CISA-ADP", "dateUpdated": "2025-10-01T19:26:38.747Z" } } ] } }