Linux Kernel up to 6.12.17/6.13.5 mlx5 IB_WC_WR_FLUSH_ERR race condition

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.17/6.13.5. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is the function IB_WC_WR_FLUSH_ERR of the component mlx5. Performing a manipulation results in race condition. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-21892. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.17/6.13.5. This affects the function IB_WC_WR_FLUSH_ERR of the component mlx5. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/mlx5: Fix the recovery flow of the UMR QP This patch addresses an issue in the recovery flow of the UMR QP, ensuring tasks do not get stuck, as highlighted by the call trace [1]. During recovery, before transitioning the QP to the RESET state, the software must wait for all outstanding WRs to complete. Failing to do so can cause the firmware to skip sending some flushed CQEs with errors and simply discard them upon the RESET, as per the IB specification. This race condition can result in lost CQEs and tasks becoming stuck. To resolve this, the patch sends a final WR which serves only as a barrier before moving the QP state to RESET. Once a CQE is received for that final WR, it guarantees that no outstanding WRs remain, making it safe to transition the QP to RESET and subsequently back to RTS, restoring proper functionality. Note: For the barrier WR, we simply reuse the failed and ready WR. Since the QP is in an error state, it will only receive IB_WC_WR_FLUSH_ERR. However, as it serves only as a barrier we don't care about its status. [1] INFO: task rdma_resource_l:1922 blocked for more than 120 seconds. Tainted: G W 6.12.0-rc7+ #1626 "echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message. task:rdma_resource_l state:D stack:0 pid:1922 tgid:1922 ppid:1369 flags:0x00004004 Call Trace: <TASK> __schedule+0x420/0xd30 schedule+0x47/0x130 schedule_timeout+0x280/0x300 ? mark_held_locks+0x48/0x80 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on_prepare+0xe5/0x1a0 wait_for_completion+0x75/0x130 mlx5r_umr_post_send_wait+0x3c2/0x5b0 [mlx5_ib] ? __pfx_mlx5r_umr_done+0x10/0x10 [mlx5_ib] mlx5r_umr_revoke_mr+0x93/0xc0 [mlx5_ib] __mlx5_ib_dereg_mr+0x299/0x520 [mlx5_ib] ? _raw_spin_unlock_irq+0x24/0x40 ? wait_for_completion+0xfe/0x130 ? rdma_restrack_put+0x63/0xe0 [ib_core] 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+0x64e/0x2080 ? mark_held_locks+0x48/0x80 ? find_held_lock+0x2d/0xa0 ? lock_acquire+0xc1/0x2f0 ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? __fget_files+0xc3/0x1b0 ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xe7/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x1b0/0xa70 do_syscall_64+0x6b/0x140 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e RIP: 0033:0x7f99c918b17b RSP: 002b:00007ffc766d0468 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ffc766d0578 RCX: 00007f99c918b17b RDX: 00007ffc766d0560 RSI: 00000000c0181b01 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007ffc766d0540 R08: 00007f99c8f99010 R09: 000000000000bd7e R10: 00007f99c94c1c70 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffc766d0530 R13: 000000000000001c R14: 0000000040246a80 R15: 0000000000000000 </TASK>

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-21892 since 12/29/2024. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 236983 (Ubuntu 24.04 LTS / 24.10 : Linux kernel vulnerabilities (USN-7521-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.12.18 or 6.13.6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 3e3bf255992cc02404e9d209b127c1c9944239cf/1d2b84d8d054313deed2b2fcafe1168bbcb9e99f/d97505baea64d93538b16baf14ce7b8c1fbad746 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 (236983) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0649). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best 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

• 6.12.0
• 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

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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