CVE-2025-21673 | smb: client: fix double free of TCP_Server_Info::hostname

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: fix double free of TCP_Server_Info::hostname When shutting down the server in cifs_put_tcp_session(), cifsd thread might be reconnecting to multiple DFS targets before it realizes it should exit the loop, so @server->hostname can't be freed as long as cifsd thread isn't done. Otherwise the following can happen: RIP: 0010:__slab_free+0x223/0x3c0 Code: 5e 41 5f c3 cc cc cc cc 4c 89 de 4c 89 cf 44 89 44 24 08 4c 89 1c 24 e8 fb cf 8e 00 44 8b 44 24 08 4c 8b 1c 24 e9 5f fe ff ff <0f> 0b 41 f7 45 08 00 0d 21 00 0f 85 2d ff ff ff e9 1f ff ff ff 80 RSP: 0018:ffffb26180dbfd08 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: ffff8ea34728e510 RBX: ffff8ea34728e500 RCX: 0000000000800068 RDX: 0000000000800068 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff8ea340042400 RBP: ffffe112041ca380 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 6170732e31303000 R11: 70726f632e786563 R12: ffff8ea34728e500 R13: ffff8ea340042400 R14: ffff8ea34728e500 R15: 0000000000800068 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8ea66fd80000(0000) 000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007ffc25376080 CR3: 000000012a2ba001 CR4: PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> ? show_trace_log_lvl+0x1c4/0x2df ? show_trace_log_lvl+0x1c4/0x2df ? __reconnect_target_unlocked+0x3e/0x160 [cifs] ? __die_body.cold+0x8/0xd ? die+0x2b/0x50 ? do_trap+0xce/0x120 ? __slab_free+0x223/0x3c0 ? do_error_trap+0x65/0x80 ? __slab_free+0x223/0x3c0 ? exc_invalid_op+0x4e/0x70 ? __slab_free+0x223/0x3c0 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x16/0x20 ? __slab_free+0x223/0x3c0 ? extract_hostname+0x5c/0xa0 [cifs] ? extract_hostname+0x5c/0xa0 [cifs] ? __kmalloc+0x4b/0x140 __reconnect_target_unlocked+0x3e/0x160 [cifs] reconnect_dfs_server+0x145/0x430 [cifs] cifs_handle_standard+0x1ad/0x1d0 [cifs] cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x592/0x730 [cifs] ? __pfx_cifs_demultiplex_thread+0x10/0x10 [cifs] kthread+0xdd/0x100 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x29/0x50 </TASK>

Published: 2025-01-31 Last update: 2025-10-01 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-21673 is rated Low Risk (24.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.03%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-21673

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-11-21 0.06% 0.03% -0.03%
2 2025-11-18 0.04% 0.06% +0.01%
3 2025-02-01 0.04%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-21673

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-21673

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-21673

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-21673 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-21673
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21673
suse medium CVE-2025-21673 severity moderate: SUSE including 428 source package names (2.1.3-6.11:kernel-default-6.4.0-28.1, 2.1.3-6.12:kernel-default-base-6.4.0-28.1.21.6, …), 701 product×package rows across 129 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container, Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container, … (129 product lines)): Fixed 435, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 35. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21673/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-21673 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 148, released 148, not-affected 74, needed 36. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-21673

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-21673

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.14.19, < 5.15 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.15.3, < 6.6.74 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-21673

cvelogic Threat Intelligence