CVE-2025-21973 | eth: bnxt: fix kernel panic in the bnxt_get_queue_stats{rx | tx}

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: eth: bnxt: fix kernel panic in the bnxt_get_queue_stats{rx | tx} When qstats-get operation is executed, callbacks of netdev_stats_ops are called. The bnxt_get_queue_stats{rx | tx} collect per-queue stats from sw_stats in the rings. But {rx | tx | cp}_ring are allocated when the interface is up. So, these rings are not allocated when the interface is down. The qstats-get is allowed even if the interface is down. However, the bnxt_get_queue_stats{rx | tx}() accesses cp_ring and tx_ring without null check. So, it needs to avoid accessing rings if the interface is down. Reproducer: ip link set $interface down ./cli.py --spec netdev.yaml --dump qstats-get OR ip link set $interface down python ./stats.py Splat looks like: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 1680fa067 P4D 1680fa067 PUD 16be3b067 PMD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1495 Comm: python3 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc4+ #32 5cd0f999d5a15c574ac72b3e4b907341 Hardware name: ASUS System Product Name/PRIME Z690-P D4, BIOS 0603 11/01/2021 RIP: 0010:bnxt_get_queue_stats_rx+0xf/0x70 [bnxt_en] Code: c6 87 b5 18 00 00 02 eb a2 66 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 0f 1f 44 01 RSP: 0018:ffffabef43cdb7e0 EFLAGS: 00010282 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffffffc04c8710 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: ffffabef43cdb858 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff8d504e850000 RBP: ffff8d506c9f9c00 R08: 0000000000000004 R09: ffff8d506bcd901c R10: 0000000000000015 R11: ffff8d506bcd9000 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffffabef43cdb8c0 R14: ffff8d504e850000 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007f2c5462b080(0000) GS:ffff8d575f600000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000000 CR3: 0000000167fd0000 CR4: 00000000007506f0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> ? __die+0x20/0x70 ? page_fault_oops+0x15a/0x460 ? sched_balance_find_src_group+0x58d/0xd10 ? exc_page_fault+0x6e/0x180 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 ? bnxt_get_queue_stats_rx+0xf/0x70 [bnxt_en cdd546fd48563c280cfd30e9647efa420db07bf1] netdev_nl_stats_by_netdev+0x2b1/0x4e0 ? xas_load+0x9/0xb0 ? xas_find+0x183/0x1d0 ? xa_find+0x8b/0xe0 netdev_nl_qstats_get_dumpit+0xbf/0x1e0 genl_dumpit+0x31/0x90 netlink_dump+0x1a8/0x360

Published: 2025-04-01 Last update: 2026-01-22 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-21973 is rated Low Risk (31.9/100): CVSS High 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-2025-21973

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 2026-05-10 0.05% 0.03% -0.02%
2 2026-01-26 0.02% 0.05% +0.03%
3 2025-04-02 0.02%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-21973

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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 5.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-21973

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-21973

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-21973 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-2025-21973
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21973
suse medium CVE-2025-21973 severity moderate: SUSE including 76 source package names (15.7.20.5.1:kernel-default-6.4.0-150700.53.3.1, cluster-md-kmp-default, …), 390 product×package rows across 93 product lines (Container suse/hpc/warewulf4-x86_64/sle-hpc-node, Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-3P, … (93 product lines)): Known Not Affected 239, Fixed 151. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21973/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-21973 medium priority: Ubuntu including 150 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1487 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1097, ignored 147, not-affected 144, released 99. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-21973

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-21973

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.9, < 6.12.20 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.13.8 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:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-21973

cvelogic Threat Intelligence