CVE-2025-21922

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ppp: Fix KMSAN uninit-value warning with bpf Syzbot caught an "KMSAN: uninit-value" warning [1], which is caused by the ppp driver not initializing a 2-byte header when using socket filter. The following code can generate a PPP filter BPF program: ''' struct bpf_program fp; pcap_t *handle; handle = pcap_open_dead(DLT_PPP_PPPD, 65535); pcap_compile(handle, &fp, "ip and outbound", 0, 0); bpf_dump(&fp, 1); ''' Its output is: ''' (000) ldh [2] (001) jeq #0x21 jt 2 jf 5 (002) ldb [0] (003) jeq #0x1 jt 4 jf 5 (004) ret #65535 (005) ret #0 ''' Wen can find similar code at the following link: https://github.com/ppp-project/ppp/blob/master/pppd/options.c#L1680 The maintainer of this code repository is also the original maintainer of the ppp driver. As you can see the BPF program skips 2 bytes of data and then reads the 'Protocol' field to determine if it's an IP packet. Then it read the first byte of the first 2 bytes to determine the direction. The issue is that only the first byte indicating direction is initialized in current ppp driver code while the second byte is not initialized. For normal BPF programs generated by libpcap, uninitialized data won't be used, so it's not a problem. However, for carefully crafted BPF programs, such as those generated by syzkaller [2], which start reading from offset 0, the uninitialized data will be used and caught by KMSAN. [1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=853242d9c9917165d791 [2] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/text?tag=ReproC&x=11994913980000

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-04-01
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

Weakness type

CWE-908

CVE-2025-21922 is classified as CWE-908

See CWE-908 on MITRE CWE for full details on this weakness type.

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 2.6.12 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.4.291, 5.10.235, 5.15.179, 6.1.131, 6.6.83, 6.12.19, 6.13.7, 6.14 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 2.6.12
Fixed in
✓ 5.4.291 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.235 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.179 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.131 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.83 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.19 6.12.x ✓ 6.13.7 6.13.x ✓ 6.14

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-21922 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2025-21922?

    CVE-2025-21922 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.12 onward and has been patched in 5.4.291, 5.10.235, 5.15.179 and others. CVE-2025-21922 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2025-21922?

    CVE-2025-21922 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-2025-21922?

    Yes — CVE-2025-21922 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.291, 5.10.235, 5.15.179 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2025-21922 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2025-21922 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.