NULL pointer dereference in Linux
CVE-2025-21666
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vsock: prevent null-ptr-deref in vsock_*[has_data|has_space] Recent reports have shown how we sometimes call vsock_*_has_data() when a vsock socket has been de-assigned from a transport (see attached links), but we shouldn't. Previous commits should have solved the real problems, but we may have more in the future, so to avoid null-ptr-deref, we can return 0 (no space, no data available) but with a warning. This way the code should continue to run in a nearly consistent state and have a warning that allows us to debug future problems.
EPSS: 0.002 (12.6th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Affected products
- Linux — versions c0cfa2d8a788fcf45df5bf4070ab2474c88d543a, 5.5, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel — versions 6.13
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-21666?
- CVE-2025-21666 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-01-31.
- How severe is CVE-2025-21666?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2025-21666 known to be exploited?
- 3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.