CVE-2025-21786 | workqueue: Put the pwq after detaching the rescuer from the pool

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: workqueue: Put the pwq after detaching the rescuer from the pool The commit 68f83057b913("workqueue: Reap workers via kthread_stop() and remove detach_completion") adds code to reap the normal workers but mistakenly does not handle the rescuer and also removes the code waiting for the rescuer in put_unbound_pool(), which caused a use-after-free bug reported by Cheung Wall. To avoid the use-after-free bug, the pool’s reference must be held until the detachment is complete. Therefore, move the code that puts the pwq after detaching the rescuer from the pool.

Published: 2025-02-27 Last update: 2025-03-21 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-21786 is rated Low Risk (37.6/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). 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-2025-21786

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 2025-02-27 0.04%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-21786

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-21786

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-21786

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-21786 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-21786
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21786
suse medium CVE-2025-21786 severity moderate: SUSE including 52 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 224 product×package rows across 41 product lines (SLES-LTSS-TERADATA 15 SP2, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP5, … (41 product lines)): Known Not Affected 198, Fixed 26. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21786/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-21786 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 154, released 135, needed 75, not-affected 42. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-21786

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-21786

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel < 6.12.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.13.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-21786

cvelogic Threat Intelligence