CVE-2025-21926 | net: gso: fix ownership in __udp_gso_segment

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: gso: fix ownership in __udp_gso_segment In __udp_gso_segment the skb destructor is removed before segmenting the skb but the socket reference is kept as-is. This is an issue if the original skb is later orphaned as we can hit the following bug: kernel BUG at ./include/linux/skbuff.h:3312! (skb_orphan) RIP: 0010:ip_rcv_core+0x8b2/0xca0 Call Trace: ip_rcv+0xab/0x6e0 __netif_receive_skb_one_core+0x168/0x1b0 process_backlog+0x384/0x1100 __napi_poll.constprop.0+0xa1/0x370 net_rx_action+0x925/0xe50 The above can happen following a sequence of events when using OpenVSwitch, when an OVS_ACTION_ATTR_USERSPACE action precedes an OVS_ACTION_ATTR_OUTPUT action: 1. OVS_ACTION_ATTR_USERSPACE is handled (in do_execute_actions): the skb goes through queue_gso_packets and then __udp_gso_segment, where its destructor is removed. 2. The segments' data are copied and sent to userspace. 3. OVS_ACTION_ATTR_OUTPUT is handled (in do_execute_actions) and the same original skb is sent to its path. 4. If it later hits skb_orphan, we hit the bug. Fix this by also removing the reference to the socket in __udp_gso_segment.

Published: 2025-04-01 Last update: 2025-11-03 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-21926 is rated Low Risk (24.5/100): 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-2025-21926

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 2026-05-11 0.11% 0.03% -0.08%
2 2026-01-26 0.03% 0.11% +0.08%
3 2025-10-31 0.03%

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-21926

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]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-21926

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-21926

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-21926 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 6. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-21926
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21926
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21926/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-21926 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, released 192, ignored 150, not-affected 63, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-21926

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-21926

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.18, < 5.4.291 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.235 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.179 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 6.1.131 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.83 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.13.7 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-21926

cvelogic Threat Intelligence