What is CVE-2025-21649?

CVE-2025-21649 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476), affecting Linux kernel versions from 5.14 onward and patched in 6.12.10 and 6.13. CVE-2025-21649 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-21649?

CVE-2025-21649 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-21649?

Yes, CVE-2025-21649 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.10 and 6.13. If you are running Linux kernel 5.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-21649 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-21649 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. See MITRE CWE for full details: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/476.html

CVE-2025-21649

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: hns3: fix kernel crash when 1588 is sent on HIP08 devices Currently, HIP08 devices does not register the ptp devices, so the hdev->ptp is NULL. But the tx process would still try to set hardware time stamp info with SKBTX_HW_TSTAMP flag and cause a kernel crash. [ 128.087798] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000018 ... [ 128.280251] pc : hclge_ptp_set_tx_info+0x2c/0x140 [hclge] [ 128.286600] lr : hclge_ptp_set_tx_info+0x20/0x140 [hclge] [ 128.292938] sp : ffff800059b93140 [ 128.297200] x29: ffff800059b93140 x28: 0000000000003280 [ 128.303455] x27: ffff800020d48280 x26: ffff0cb9dc814080 [ 128.309715] x25: ffff0cb9cde93fa0 x24: 0000000000000001 [ 128.315969] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000000000000194 [ 128.322219] x21: ffff0cd94f986000 x20: 0000000000000000 [ 128.328462] x19: ffff0cb9d2a166c0 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 128.334698] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: ffffcf1fc523ed24 [ 128.340934] x15: 0000ffffd530a518 x14: 0000000000000000 [ 128.347162] x13: ffff0cd6bdb31310 x12: 0000000000000368 [ 128.353388] x11: ffff0cb9cfbc7070 x10: ffff2cf55dd11e02 [ 128.359606] x9 : ffffcf1f85a212b4 x8 : ffff0cd7cf27dab0 [ 128.365831] x7 : 0000000000000a20 x6 : ffff0cd7cf27d000 [ 128.372040] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 000000000000ffff [ 128.378243] x3 : 0000000000000400 x2 : ffffcf1f85a21294 [ 128.384437] x1 : ffff0cb9db520080 x0 : ffff0cb9db500080 [ 128.390626] Call trace: [ 128.393964] hclge_ptp_set_tx_info+0x2c/0x140 [hclge] [ 128.399893] hns3_nic_net_xmit+0x39c/0x4c4 [hns3] [ 128.405468] xmit_one.constprop.0+0xc4/0x200 [ 128.410600] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x54/0xf0 [ 128.415556] sch_direct_xmit+0xe8/0x634 [ 128.420246] __dev_queue_xmit+0x224/0xc70 [ 128.425101] dev_queue_xmit+0x1c/0x40 [ 128.429608] ovs_vport_send+0xac/0x1a0 [openvswitch] [ 128.435409] do_output+0x60/0x17c [openvswitch] [ 128.440770] do_execute_actions+0x898/0x8c4 [openvswitch] [ 128.446993] ovs_execute_actions+0x64/0xf0 [openvswitch] [ 128.453129] ovs_dp_process_packet+0xa0/0x224 [openvswitch] [ 128.459530] ovs_vport_receive+0x7c/0xfc [openvswitch] [ 128.465497] internal_dev_xmit+0x34/0xb0 [openvswitch] [ 128.471460] xmit_one.constprop.0+0xc4/0x200 [ 128.476561] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x54/0xf0 [ 128.481489] __dev_queue_xmit+0x968/0xc70 [ 128.486330] dev_queue_xmit+0x1c/0x40 [ 128.490856] ip_finish_output2+0x250/0x570 [ 128.495810] __ip_finish_output+0x170/0x1e0 [ 128.500832] ip_finish_output+0x3c/0xf0 [ 128.505504] ip_output+0xbc/0x160 [ 128.509654] ip_send_skb+0x58/0xd4 [ 128.513892] udp_send_skb+0x12c/0x354 [ 128.518387] udp_sendmsg+0x7a8/0x9c0 [ 128.522793] inet_sendmsg+0x4c/0x8c [ 128.527116] __sock_sendmsg+0x48/0x80 [ 128.531609] __sys_sendto+0x124/0x164 [ 128.536099] __arm64_sys_sendto+0x30/0x5c [ 128.540935] invoke_syscall+0x50/0x130 [ 128.545508] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x10c/0x124 [ 128.551205] do_el0_svc+0x34/0xdc [ 128.555347] el0_svc+0x20/0x30 [ 128.559227] el0_sync_handler+0xb8/0xc0 [ 128.563883] el0_sync+0x160/0x180

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-01-19

Last modified 2025-10-01

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10

Medium

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness type

CWE-476

CVE-2025-21649 is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability

What is NULL Pointer Dereference?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. Learn more on MITRE CWE

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.14 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.12.10, 6.13 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 5.14

Fixed in

✓ 6.12.10 6.12.x ✓ 6.13

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-21649 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9741e72b2286de8b38de9db685588ac421a95c87
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f19ab3ef96d9626e5f1bdc56d3574c355e83d623
Patch

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-21649

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-01-19

Modified 2025-10-01

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-21649?

CVE-2025-21649 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 , classified as a NULL Pointer Dereference flaw (CWE-476) . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.14 onward and has been patched in 6.12.10 and 6.13. CVE-2025-21649 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-21649?

CVE-2025-21649 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-21649?

Yes — CVE-2025-21649 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.12.10 and 6.13. If you are running Linux kernel 5.14 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-21649 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-21649 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
What is NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)?

The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL, typically causing a crash. View CWE-476 on MITRE CWE →