Linux Kernel up to 6.12.17/6.13.5 mlx5 destroy_unused_implicit_child_mr reference count

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.17/6.13.5. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function destroy_unused_implicit_child_mr of the component mlx5. Such manipulation leads to reference count. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-21886. There is no exploit available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.17/6.13.5. Affected by this issue is the function destroy_unused_implicit_child_mr of the component mlx5. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a reference count vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-911. The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/mlx5: Fix implicit ODP hang on parent deregistration Fix the destroy_unused_implicit_child_mr() to prevent hanging during parent deregistration as of below [1]. Upon entering destroy_unused_implicit_child_mr(), the reference count for the implicit MR parent is incremented using: refcount_inc_not_zero(). A corresponding decrement must be performed if free_implicit_child_mr_work() is not called. The code has been updated to properly manage the reference count that was incremented. [1] INFO: task python3:2157 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Not tainted 6.12.0-rc7+ #1633 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:python3 state:D stack:0 pid:2157 tgid:2157 ppid:1685 flags:0x00000000 Call Trace: <TASK> __schedule+0x420/0xd30 schedule+0x47/0x130 __mlx5_ib_dereg_mr+0x379/0x5d0 [mlx5_ib] ? __pfx_autoremove_wake_function+0x10/0x10 ib_dereg_mr_user+0x5f/0x120 [ib_core] ? lock_release+0xc6/0x280 destroy_hw_idr_uobject+0x1d/0x60 [ib_uverbs] uverbs_destroy_uobject+0x58/0x1d0 [ib_uverbs] uobj_destroy+0x3f/0x70 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_cmd_verbs+0x3e4/0xbb0 [ib_uverbs] ? __pfx_uverbs_destroy_def_handler+0x10/0x10 [ib_uverbs] ? lock_acquire+0xc1/0x2f0 ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0x116/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? lock_release+0xc6/0x280 ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xe7/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x1b0/0xa70 ? kmem_cache_free+0x221/0x400 do_syscall_64+0x6b/0x140 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e RIP: 0033:0x7f20f21f017b RSP: 002b:00007ffcfc4a77c8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ffcfc4a78d8 RCX: 00007f20f21f017b RDX: 00007ffcfc4a78c0 RSI: 00000000c0181b01 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007ffcfc4a78a0 R08: 000056147d125190 R09: 00007f20f1f14c60 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffcfc4a7890 R13: 000000000000001c R14: 000056147d100fc0 R15: 00007f20e365c9d0 </TASK>

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2025-21886 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation is known to be difficult. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 6.12.18 or 6.13.6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch cb96ae783e7249e8e5a50c22952c0bb2983133df/a095ede2daca49d15e74d66d014883f2fa8bb924/3d8c6f26893d55fab218ad086719de1fc9bb86ba 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 vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0649). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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

• 6.12.0
• 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
• 6.12.17
• 6.13.0
• 6.13.1
• 6.13.2
• 6.13.3
• 6.13.4
• 6.13.5

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

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