CVE-2025-21974 | eth: bnxt: return fail if interface is down in bnxt_queue_mem_alloc()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: eth: bnxt: return fail if interface is down in bnxt_queue_mem_alloc() The bnxt_queue_mem_alloc() is called to allocate new queue memory when a queue is restarted. It internally accesses rx buffer descriptor corresponding to the index. The rx buffer descriptor is allocated and set when the interface is up and it's freed when the interface is down. So, if queue is restarted if interface is down, kernel panic occurs. Splat looks like: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 000000000000b240 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 1563 Comm: ncdevmem2 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc2+ #9 844ddba6e7c459cafd0bf4db9a3198e Hardware name: ASUS System Product Name/PRIME Z690-P D4, BIOS 0603 11/01/2021 RIP: 0010:bnxt_queue_mem_alloc+0x3f/0x4e0 [bnxt_en] Code: 41 54 4d 89 c4 4d 69 c0 c0 05 00 00 55 48 89 f5 53 48 89 fb 4c 8d b5 40 05 00 00 48 83 ec 15 RSP: 0018:ffff9dcc83fef9e8 EFLAGS: 00010202 RAX: ffffffffc0457720 RBX: ffff934ed8d40000 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 000000000000001f RSI: ffff934ea508f800 RDI: ffff934ea508f808 RBP: ffff934ea508f800 R08: 000000000000b240 R09: ffff934e84f4b000 R10: ffff9dcc83fefa30 R11: ffff934e84f4b000 R12: 000000000000001f R13: ffff934ed8d40ac0 R14: ffff934ea508fd40 R15: ffff934e84f4b000 FS: 00007fa73888c740(0000) GS:ffff93559f780000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000000000000b240 CR3: 0000000145a2e000 CR4: 00000000007506f0 PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> ? __die+0x20/0x70 ? page_fault_oops+0x15a/0x460 ? exc_page_fault+0x6e/0x180 ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30 ? __pfx_bnxt_queue_mem_alloc+0x10/0x10 [bnxt_en 7f85e76f4d724ba07471d7e39d9e773aea6597b7] ? bnxt_queue_mem_alloc+0x3f/0x4e0 [bnxt_en 7f85e76f4d724ba07471d7e39d9e773aea6597b7] netdev_rx_queue_restart+0xc5/0x240 net_devmem_bind_dmabuf_to_queue+0xf8/0x200 netdev_nl_bind_rx_doit+0x3a7/0x450 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xd9/0x130 genl_rcv_msg+0x184/0x2b0 ? __pfx_netdev_nl_bind_rx_doit+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_genl_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10 netlink_rcv_skb+0x54/0x100 genl_rcv+0x24/0x40 ...

Published: 2025-04-01 Last update: 2025-10-31 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-21974 is rated Low Risk (22.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). 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-2025-21974

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 2025-04-02 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-21974

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-2025-21974

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-21974

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2025-21974 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-2025-21974
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21974
suse medium CVE-2025-21974 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-2025-21974/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-21974 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-2025-21974

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-21974

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.11, < 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-2025-21974

cvelogic Threat Intelligence