CVE-2025-21683: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix bpf_sk_select_reuseport() memory leak As pointed out in the original comment, lookup in sockmap can return a TCP ESTABLISHED socket. Such TCP socket may have had SO_ATTACH_REUSEPORT_EBPF set before it was ESTABLISHED. In other words, a non-NULL sk_reuseport_cb does not imply a non-refcounted socket. Drop sk's reference in both error paths. unreferenced object 0xffff888101911800 (size 2048): comm "test_progs", pid 44109, jiffies 4297131437 hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 80 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ backtrace (crc 9336483b): __kmalloc_noprof+0x3bf/0x560 __reuseport_alloc+0x1d/0x40 reuseport_alloc+0xca/0x150 reuseport_attach_prog+0x87/0x140 sk_reuseport_attach_bpf+0xc8/0x100 sk_setsockopt+0x1181/0x1990 do_sock_setsockopt+0x12b/0x160 __sys_setsockopt+0x7b/0xc0 __x64_sys_setsockopt+0x1b/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x93/0x180 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-21683, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
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