Use After Free in Linux
CVE-2025-21979
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: wifi: cfg80211: cancel wiphy_work before freeing wiphy A wiphy_work can be queued from the moment the wiphy is allocated and initialized (i.e. wiphy_new_nm). When a wiphy_work is queued, the rdev::wiphy_work is getting queued. If wiphy_free is called before the rdev::wiphy_work had a chance to run, the wiphy memory will be freed, and then when it eventally gets to run it'll use invalid memory. Fix this by canceling the work before freeing the wiphy.
Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free
EPSS: 0.002 (9.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
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.
Affected products
- Linux — versions 6.13.8, 6.12.20, ddb1bfbf4ab5c753954d0cd728253b642934a9f2
- Linux Linux_kernel — versions 6.14
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 (Patch)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-21979?
- CVE-2025-21979 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-04-01.
- How severe is CVE-2025-21979?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2025-21979 known to be exploited?
- 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.