What is CVE-2025-21838?

CVE-2025-21838 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 3.12 onward and patched in 6.1.130, 6.6.80, 6.12.16 and others. CVE-2025-21838 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-21838?

CVE-2025-21838 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-2025-21838?

Yes, CVE-2025-21838 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.130, 6.6.80, 6.12.16 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2025-21838 actively exploited?

CVE-2025-21838 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2025-21838

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: gadget: core: flush gadget workqueue after device removal device_del() can lead to new work being scheduled in gadget->work workqueue. This is observed, for example, with the dwc3 driver with the following call stack: device_del() gadget_unbind_driver() usb_gadget_disconnect_locked() dwc3_gadget_pullup() dwc3_gadget_soft_disconnect() usb_gadget_set_state() schedule_work(&gadget->work) Move flush_work() after device_del() to ensure the workqueue is cleaned up.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2025-03-07

Last modified 2025-11-03

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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 3.12 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.130, 6.6.80, 6.12.16, 6.13.4, 6.14 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 3.12

Fixed in

✓ 6.1.130 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.80 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.16 6.12.x ✓ 6.13.4 6.13.x ✓ 6.14

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-21838 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Debian Security
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00045.html
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/399a45e5237ca14037120b1b895bd38a3b4492ea
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/859cb45aefa6de823b2fa7f229fe6d9562c9f3b7
Patch
Kernel patch commit
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/97695b5a1b5467a4f91194db12160f56da445dfe
Patch

5 patch commits total View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2025-21838

Severity Medium

CVSS score 5.5 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2025-03-07

Modified 2025-11-03

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-21838?

CVE-2025-21838 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 3.12 onward and has been patched in 6.1.130, 6.6.80, 6.12.16 and others. CVE-2025-21838 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-21838?

CVE-2025-21838 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-2025-21838?

Yes — CVE-2025-21838 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.130, 6.6.80, 6.12.16 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2025-21838 actively exploited?

No — CVE-2025-21838 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.