Linux Kernel up to 6.1.128/6.6.75/6.12.12/6.13.1 vxlan_vnifilter_dump privilege escalation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.128/6.6.75/6.12.12/6.13.1 and classified as problematic. This affects the function vxlan_vnifilter_dump. This manipulation causes an unknown weakness. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-21716. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.128/6.6.75/6.12.12/6.13.1. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vxlan: Fix uninit-value in vxlan_vnifilter_dump() KMSAN reported an uninit-value access in vxlan_vnifilter_dump() [1]. If the length of the netlink message payload is less than sizeof(struct tunnel_msg), vxlan_vnifilter_dump() accesses bytes beyond the message. This can lead to uninit-value access. Fix this by returning an error in such situations. [1] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in vxlan_vnifilter_dump+0x328/0x920 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_vnifilter.c:422 vxlan_vnifilter_dump+0x328/0x920 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_vnifilter.c:422 rtnl_dumpit+0xd5/0x2f0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6786 netlink_dump+0x93e/0x15f0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2317 __netlink_dump_start+0x716/0xd60 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2432 netlink_dump_start include/linux/netlink.h:340 [inline] rtnetlink_dump_start net/core/rtnetlink.c:6815 [inline] rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x1256/0x14a0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6882 netlink_rcv_skb+0x467/0x660 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2542 rtnetlink_rcv+0x35/0x40 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6944 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1321 [inline] netlink_unicast+0xed6/0x1290 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1347 netlink_sendmsg+0x1092/0x1230 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1891 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:711 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x330/0x3d0 net/socket.c:726 ____sys_sendmsg+0x7f4/0xb50 net/socket.c:2583 ___sys_sendmsg+0x271/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2637 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2669 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2674 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2672 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x211/0x3e0 net/socket.c:2672 x64_sys_call+0x3878/0x3d90 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x1d0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Uninit was created at: slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:4110 [inline] slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:4153 [inline] kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof+0x800/0xe80 mm/slub.c:4205 kmalloc_reserve+0x13b/0x4b0 net/core/skbuff.c:587 __alloc_skb+0x347/0x7d0 net/core/skbuff.c:678 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1323 [inline] netlink_alloc_large_skb+0xa5/0x280 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1196 netlink_sendmsg+0xac9/0x1230 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1866 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:711 [inline] __sock_sendmsg+0x330/0x3d0 net/socket.c:726 ____sys_sendmsg+0x7f4/0xb50 net/socket.c:2583 ___sys_sendmsg+0x271/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2637 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2669 [inline] __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2674 [inline] __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2672 [inline] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x211/0x3e0 net/socket.c:2672 x64_sys_call+0x3878/0x3d90 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x1d0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 30991 Comm: syz.4.10630 Not tainted 6.12.0-10694-gc44daa7e3c73 #29 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-3.fc41 04/01/2014

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-21716 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 232678 (SUSE SLES15 / openSUSE 15 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:0847-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.129, 6.6.76, 6.12.13, 6.13.2 or 6.14-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch cb1de9309a48cc5b771115781eec05075fd67039/a84d511165d6ba7f331b90ae6b6ce180ec534daa/f554bce488605d2f70e06eeab5e4d2448c813713/1693d1fade71646a0731b6b213298cb443d186ea/5066293b9b7046a906eff60e3949a887ae185a43 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (232678) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0453). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• Siemens SIMATIC S7
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Avamar
• Red Hat OpenShift
• IBM QRadar SIEM
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• IBM DataPower Gateway
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• Dell PowerScale OneFS
• Dell ECS

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.128
• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.6.24
• 6.6.25
• 6.6.26
• 6.6.27
• 6.6.28
• 6.6.29
• 6.6.30
• 6.6.31
• 6.6.32
• 6.6.33
• 6.6.34
• 6.6.35
• 6.6.36
• 6.6.37
• 6.6.38
• 6.6.39
• 6.6.40
• 6.6.41
• 6.6.42
• 6.6.43
• 6.6.44
• 6.6.45
• 6.6.46
• 6.6.47
• 6.6.48
• 6.6.49
• 6.6.50
• 6.6.51
• 6.6.52
• 6.6.53
• 6.6.54
• 6.6.55
• 6.6.56
• 6.6.57
• 6.6.58
• 6.6.59
• 6.6.60
• 6.6.61
• 6.6.62
• 6.6.63
• 6.6.64
• 6.6.65
• 6.6.66
• 6.6.67
• 6.6.68
• 6.6.69
• 6.6.70
• 6.6.71
• 6.6.72
• 6.6.73
• 6.6.74
• 6.6.75
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.13.0
• 6.13.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion