Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2025-21703

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netem: Update sch->q.qlen before qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog() qdisc_tree_reduce_backlog() notifies parent qdisc only if child qdisc becomes empty, therefore we need to reduce the backlog of the child qdisc before calling it. Otherwise it would miss the opportunity to call cops->qlen_notify(), in the case of DRR, it resulted in UAF since DRR uses ->qlen_notify() to maintain its active list.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (20.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 20th percentile — 20.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-21703: held from 0.003 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-21703?
CVE-2025-21703 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-02-18.
How severe is CVE-2025-21703?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-21703 known to be exploited?
7 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.