CVE-2025-21915: linux Use After Free

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-21915 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Use After Free vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.20% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 9.6% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 01-04-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 05-08-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cdx: Fix possible UAF error in driver_override_show() Fixed a possible UAF problem in driver_override_show() in drivers/cdx/cdx.c This function driver_override_show() is part of DEVICE_ATTR_RW, which includes both driver_override_show() and driver_override_store(). These functions can be executed concurrently in sysfs. The driver_override_store() function uses driver_set_override() to update the driver_override value, and driver_set_override() internally locks the device (device_lock(dev)). If driver_override_show() reads cdx_dev->driver_override without locking, it could potentially access a freed pointer if driver_override_store() frees the string concurrently. This could lead to printing a kernel address, which is a security risk since DEVICE_ATTR can be read by all users. Additionally, a similar pattern is used in drivers/amba/bus.c, as well as many other bus drivers, where device_lock() is taken in the show function, and it has been working without issues. This potential bug was detected by our experimental static analysis tool, which analyzes locking APIs and paired functions to identify data races and atomicity violations.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.