Use-After-Free in Linux kernel (CVE-2025-21861)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2025-21861). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/migrate_device: don't add folio to be freed to LRU in migrate_device_finalize()
If migration succeeded, we called
folio_migrate_flags()->mem_cgroup_migrate() to migrate the memcg from the
old to the new folio. This will set memcg_data of the old folio to 0.
Similarly, if migration failed, memcg_data of the dst folio is left unset.
If we call folio_putback_lru() on such folios (memcg_data == 0), we will
add the folio to be freed to the LRU, making memcg code unhappy. Running
the hmm selftests:
./hmm-tests
...
RUN hmm.hmm_device_private.migrate ...
[ 102.078007][T14893] page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x7ff27d200 pfn:0x13cc00
[ 102.079974][T14893] anon flags: 0x17ff00000020018(uptodate|dirty|swapbacked|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x7ff)
[ 102.082037][T14893] raw: 017ff00000020018 dead000000000100 dead000000000122 ffff8881353896c9
[ 102.083687][T14893] raw: 00000007ff27d200 0000000000000000 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000
[ 102.085331][T14893] page dumped because: VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!memcg && !mem_cgroup_disabled())
[ 102.087230][T14893] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 102.088279][T14893] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 14893 at ./include/linux/memcontrol.h:726 folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170
[ 102.090478][T14893] Modules linked in:
[ 102.091244][T14893] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 14893 Comm: hmm-tests Not tainted 6.13.0-09623-g6c21…
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
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-2025-21861 has been found in Linux kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. CVSS score: 5.5/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2025-21861" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2025-21861 (Linux kernel) — CWE-416 / CVSS v3 5.5
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
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.
Use-after-free (CWE-416) exists in Linux kernel.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Linux kernel.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.5/10). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Linux kernel を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
-
2Post-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
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2025-21861 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.1.155-r0
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21861 linux Fixed in: 5.10.247-1
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21861 linux-azure
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- advisory github.com
- package git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web cert-portal.siemens.com
- web github.com
- web cert-portal.siemens.com