Linux Kernel up to 6.1.129/6.6.79/6.12.16/6.13.4 etherdevice.h eth_skb_pkt_type use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.129/6.6.79/6.12.16/6.13.4. Affected by this vulnerability is the function eth_skb_pkt_type in the library include/linux/etherdevice.h. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2025-21867. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.1.129/6.6.79/6.12.16/6.13.4 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function eth_skb_pkt_type in the library include/linux/etherdevice.h. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf, test_run: Fix use-after-free issue in eth_skb_pkt_type() KMSAN reported a use-after-free issue in eth_skb_pkt_type()[1]. The cause of the issue was that eth_skb_pkt_type() accessed skb's data that didn't contain an Ethernet header. This occurs when bpf_prog_test_run_xdp() passes an invalid value as the user_data argument to bpf_test_init(). Fix this by returning an error when user_data is less than ETH_HLEN in bpf_test_init(). Additionally, remove the check for "if (user_size > size)" as it is unnecessary. [1] BUG: KMSAN: use-after-free in eth_skb_pkt_type include/linux/etherdevice.h:627 [inline] BUG: KMSAN: use-after-free in eth_type_trans+0x4ee/0x980 net/ethernet/eth.c:165 eth_skb_pkt_type include/linux/etherdevice.h:627 [inline] eth_type_trans+0x4ee/0x980 net/ethernet/eth.c:165 __xdp_build_skb_from_frame+0x5a8/0xa50 net/core/xdp.c:635 xdp_recv_frames net/bpf/test_run.c:272 [inline] xdp_test_run_batch net/bpf/test_run.c:361 [inline] bpf_test_run_xdp_live+0x2954/0x3330 net/bpf/test_run.c:390 bpf_prog_test_run_xdp+0x148e/0x1b10 net/bpf/test_run.c:1318 bpf_prog_test_run+0x5b7/0xa30 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:4371 __sys_bpf+0x6a6/0xe20 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5777 __do_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5866 [inline] __se_sys_bpf kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5864 [inline] __x64_sys_bpf+0xa4/0xf0 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:5864 x64_sys_call+0x2ea0/0x3d90 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:322 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: free_pages_prepare mm/page_alloc.c:1056 [inline] free_unref_page+0x156/0x1320 mm/page_alloc.c:2657 __free_pages+0xa3/0x1b0 mm/page_alloc.c:4838 bpf_ringbuf_free kernel/bpf/ringbuf.c:226 [inline] ringbuf_map_free+0xff/0x1e0 kernel/bpf/ringbuf.c:235 bpf_map_free kernel/bpf/syscall.c:838 [inline] bpf_map_free_deferred+0x17c/0x310 kernel/bpf/syscall.c:862 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3229 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xa2b/0x1b60 kernel/workqueue.c:3310 worker_thread+0xedf/0x1550 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x535/0x6b0 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x6e/0x90 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:244 CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 17276 Comm: syz.1.16450 Not tainted 6.12.0-05490-g9bb88c659673 #8 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. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-21867 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation is known to be easy. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 12/07/2025).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 234309 (Debian dsa-5900 : affs-modules-6.1.0-28-4kc-malta-di - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.1.130, 6.6.80, 6.12.17 or 6.13.5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f615fccfc689cb48977d275ac2e391297b52392b/d56d8a23d95100b65f40438639dd82db2af81c11/972bafed67ca73ad9a56448384281eb5fd5c0ba3/1a9e1284e87d59b1303b69d1808d310821d6e5f7/6b3d638ca897e099fa99bd6d02189d3176f80a47 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 (234309) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0649). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• SolarWinds Security Event Manager
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.1.129
• 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
• 6.6.76
• 6.6.77
• 6.6.78
• 6.6.79
• 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
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.13.0
• 6.13.1
• 6.13.2
• 6.13.3
• 6.13.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

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Exploitinginfo

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Entryinfo

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