Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2025-21926

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: gso: fix ownership in __udp_gso_segment In __udp_gso_segment the skb destructor is removed before segmenting the skb but the socket reference is kept as-is. This is an issue if the original skb is later orphaned as we can hit the following bug: kernel BUG at ./include/linux/skbuff.h:3312! (skb_orphan) RIP: 0010:ip_rcv_core+0x8b2/0xca0 Call Trace: ip_rcv+0xab/0x6e0 __netif_receive_skb_one_core+0x168/0x1b0 process_backlog+0x384/0x1100 __napi_poll.constprop.0+0xa1/0x370 net_rx_action+0x925/0xe50 The above can happen following a sequence of events when using OpenVSwitch, when an OVS_ACTION_ATTR_USERSPACE action precedes an OVS_ACTION_ATTR_OUTPUT action: 1. OVS_ACTION_ATTR_USERSPACE is handled (in do_execute_actions): the skb goes through queue_gso_packets and then __udp_gso_segment, where its destructor is removed. 2. The segments' data are copied and sent to userspace. 3. OVS_ACTION_ATTR_OUTPUT is handled (in do_execute_actions) and the same original skb is sent to its path. 4. If it later hits skb_orphan, we hit the bug. Fix this by also removing the reference to the socket in __udp_gso_segment.

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: 0.002 (13.6th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 14th percentile — 13.6% 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-2025-21926: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

  • Linux — versions ad405857b174ed31a97982bb129c320d03321cf5, 4.18, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 6.14

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-21926?
CVE-2025-21926 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-04-01.
How severe is CVE-2025-21926?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-21926 known to be exploited?
3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.