Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-21652)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-21652). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.6.72, 6.12.10 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ipvlan: Fix use-after-free in ipvlan_get_iflink().

syzbot presented an use-after-free report [0] regarding ipvlan and
linkwatch.

ipvlan does not hold a refcnt of the lower device unlike vlan and
macvlan.

If the linkwatch work is triggered for the ipvlan dev, the lower dev
might have already been freed, resulting in UAF of ipvlan->phy_dev in
ipvlan_get_iflink().

We can delay the lower dev unregistration like vlan and macvlan by
holding the lower dev's refcnt in dev->netdev_ops->ndo_init() and
releasing it in dev->priv_destructor().

Jakub pointed out calling .ndo_XXX after unregister_netdevice() has
returned is error prone and suggested [1] addressing this UAF in the
core by taking commit 750e51603395 ("net: avoid potential UAF in
default_operstate()") further.

Let's assume unregistering devices DOWN and use RCU protection in
default_operstate() not to race with the device unregistration.

[0]:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ipvlan_get_iflink+0x84/0x88 drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_main.c:353
Read of size 4 at addr ffff0000d768c0e0 by task kworker/u8:35/6944

CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6944 Comm: kworker/u8:35 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc2-g9bc5c9515b48 #12 4c3cb9e8b4565456f6a355f312ff91f4f29b3c47
Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)
Workqueue: events_unbound linkwatch_event
Call trace:
show_stack+0x38/0x50 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c:484 (C)
__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0xbc/0x108 lib…

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-21652 has been found in Kernel.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.6.72, 6.12.10 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2025-21652" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2025-21652 (Kernel)
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
Patched: 6.6.72, 6.12.10 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 6.6.72, 6.12.10.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Kernel' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'Kernel' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で Kernel を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade Kernel to 6.6.72, 6.12.10
```
ステージング環境で 6.6.72, 6.12.10 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
3
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.2.0"},{"fixed":"6.6.72"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.7.0"},{"fixed":"6.12.10"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2025-21652 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.12.41-r0
Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21652 linux Fixed in: 6.12.10-1
Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21652 linux-hwe-edge