MediumCVE-2025-21790

    Linux Kernel: NULL Pointer Dereference (CVE-2025-21790)

    Published Last modified Sources: BSI, SUSE, Debian LTS, Siemens ProductCERT, Red Hat, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, EUVD

    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vxlan: check vxlan_vnigroup_init() return value vxlan_init() must check vxlan_vnigroup_init() success otherwise a crash happens later, spotted by syzbot. Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000002c: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000160-0x0000000000000167] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 7313 Comm: syz-executor147 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc1-syzkaller-00276-g69b54314c975 #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:vxlan_vnigroup_uninit+0x89/0x500 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_vnifilter.c:912 Code: 00 48 8b 44 24 08 4c 8b b0 98 41 00 00 49 8d 86 60 01 00 00 48 89 c2 48 89 44 24 10 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 4d 04 00 00 49 8b 86 60 01 00 00 48 ba 00 00 00 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000cc1eea8 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: ffffffff8672effb RDX: 000000000000002c RSI: ffffffff8672ecb9 RDI: ffff8880461b4f18 RBP: ffff8880461b4ef4 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000020000 R13: ffff8880461b0d80 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 00007fecfa95d6c0(0000) GS:ffff88806a600000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007fecfa95cfb8 CR3: 000000004472c000 CR4: 0000000000352ef0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> vxlan_uninit+0x1ab/0x200 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c:2942 unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x12d6/0x1f30 net/core/dev.c:11824 unregister_netdevice_many net/core/dev.c:11866 [inline] unregister_netdevice_queue+0x307/0x3f0 net/core/dev.c:11736 register_netdevice+0x1829/0x1eb0 net/core/dev.c:10901 __vxlan_dev_create+0x7c6/0xa30 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c:3981 vxlan_newlink+0xd1/0x130 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c:4407 rtnl_newlink_create net/core/rtnetlink.c:3795 [inline] __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline]

    Update Linux Kernel to version 6.1.129, Linux Kernel to version 6.6.79, Linux Kernel to version 6.12.16.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.18..6.1.129
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.79
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.16
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.13.4
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.129
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.79
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.16
    • Linux Kernel 6.13.4
    • Linux Kernel 6.14

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    5.5

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    5.5

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: BSI, SUSE, Debian LTS, Siemens ProductCERT, Red Hat, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, EUVD

    0.2 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 13.9

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Medium
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    37.03 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    5.5 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    5.5
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.2 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    13.9
    Elevated — this CVE ranks above at least 10% of all CVEs scored today.
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: partial
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 1 October 2025
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-476

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vxlan: check vxlan_vnigroup_init() return value vxlan_init() must check vxlan_vnigroup_init() success otherwise a crash happens later, spotted by syzbot. Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc000000002c: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000160-0x0000000000000167] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 7313 Comm: syz-executor147 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc1-syzkaller-00276-g69b54314c975 #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:vxlan_vnigroup_uninit+0x89/0x500 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_vnifilter.c:912 Code: 00 48 8b 44 24 08 4c 8b b0 98 41 00 00 49 8d 86 60 01 00 00 48 89 c2 48 89 44 24 10 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 4d 04 00 00 49 8b 86 60 01 00 00 48 ba 00 00 00 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000cc1eea8 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: ffffffff8672effb RDX: 000000000000002c RSI: ffffffff8672ecb9 RDI: ffff8880461b4f18 RBP: ffff8880461b4ef4 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000020000 R13: ffff8880461b0d80 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 00007fecfa95d6c0(0000) GS:ffff88806a600000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007fecfa95cfb8 CR3: 000000004472c000 CR4: 0000000000352ef0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> vxlan_uninit+0x1ab/0x200 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c:2942 unregister_netdevice_many_notify+0x12d6/0x1f30 net/core/dev.c:11824 unregister_netdevice_many net/core/dev.c:11866 [inline] unregister_netdevice_queue+0x307/0x3f0 net/core/dev.c:11736 register_netdevice+0x1829/0x1eb0 net/core/dev.c:10901 __vxlan_dev_create+0x7c6/0xa30 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c:3981 vxlan_newlink+0xd1/0x130 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_core.c:4407 rtnl_newlink_create net/core/rtnetlink.c:3795 [inline] __rtnl_newlink net/core/rtnetlink.c:3906 [inline]

    Source: BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, suse_csaf, Debian LTS Advisories, siemens_advisory, redhat_csaf, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), Microsoft Security Update Guide, CVE.org (MITRE), ENISA EUVD

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • —
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.79
    • 6.13 – < 6.13.4
    • 5.18 – < 6.1.129
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.16
    • 6.14
    • 6.6.79
    • 6.13.4
    • 6.1.129
    • 6.12.16
    DellSecure Connect Gateway
    • < 5.30.0.14
    • 5.30.0.14
    IBMSecurity Verify Access
    • < 10.0.9.2
    • 10.0.9.2
    SiemensSIMATIC S7
    • 1500 TM MFP V1.1.1 GNU/Linux subsystem
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianlinux-6.1bullseye
    Linuxlinuxlinux_kernel6.14
    Linuxlinuxlinux_kernel—

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-476NULL Pointer Dereference

      Base

      The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-476

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedLinux

      Show 15 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3215f5aafc49aaa993991633833854694e73b439
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5805402dcc56241987bca674a1b4da79a249bab7
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/79aea5e55156c87dc570e43fcd8bba01b9d6ab3f
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a303649b99b64858d62ce7428125d8e71675d2b6
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e860f847787fbbf0d8dacd638c019c7c3d4a9bd3
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3215f5aafc49aaa993991633833854694e73b439
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5805402dcc56241987bca674a1b4da79a249bab7
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/79aea5e55156c87dc570e43fcd8bba01b9d6ab3f
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a303649b99b64858d62ce7428125d8e71675d2b6
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e860f847787fbbf0d8dacd638c019c7c3d4a9bd3
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3215f5aafc49aaa993991633833854694e73b439 Types: Mailing List, Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5805402dcc56241987bca674a1b4da79a249bab7 Types: Mailing List, Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/79aea5e55156c87dc570e43fcd8bba01b9d6ab3f Types: Mailing List, Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a303649b99b64858d62ce7428125d8e71675d2b6 Types: Mailing List, Patch
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e860f847787fbbf0d8dacd638c019c7c3d4a9bd3 Types: Mailing List, Patch
      —

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    2. Record modifiedCVE Program

      Show 2 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/03/msg00028.html
      Referenceremoved
      https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/03/msg00028.html
      —

      Source identifier: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

    3. Record modifiedSiemens ADP

      Show 2 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2025/21xxx/CVE-2025-21790.json">CVE-2025-21790</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-784472.html

      Source identifier: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e

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