Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-21651

Race Condition in Linux Kernel 5.4 – 6.12.10

Published
19 January 2025
Modified
16 October 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0013 3th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-21651 is a medium-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 4.7 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and CM-7 (Least Functionality) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: hns3: don't auto enable misc vector Currently, there is a time window between misc irq enabled and service task inited. If an interrupte is reported at this time, it…

more

will cause warning like below: [ 16.324639] Call trace: [ 16.324641] __queue_delayed_work+0xb8/0xe0 [ 16.324643] mod_delayed_work_on+0x78/0xd0 [ 16.324655] hclge_errhand_task_schedule+0x58/0x90 [hclge] [ 16.324662] hclge_misc_irq_handle+0x168/0x240 [hclge] [ 16.324666] __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x64/0x1e0 [ 16.324667] handle_irq_event+0x80/0x170 [ 16.324670] handle_fasteoi_edge_irq+0x110/0x2bc [ 16.324671] __handle_domain_irq+0x84/0xfc [ 16.324673] gic_handle_irq+0x88/0x2c0 [ 16.324674] el1_irq+0xb8/0x140 [ 16.324677] arch_cpu_idle+0x18/0x40 [ 16.324679] default_idle_call+0x5c/0x1bc [ 16.324682] cpuidle_idle_call+0x18c/0x1c4 [ 16.324684] do_idle+0x174/0x17c [ 16.324685] cpu_startup_entry+0x30/0x6c [ 16.324687] secondary_start_kernel+0x1a4/0x280 [ 16.324688] ---[ end trace 6aa0bff672a964aa ]--- So don't auto enable misc vector when request irq..

CWE(s)

Related Threats

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Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.13 · 5.4 — 6.12.10

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SC-39 Process Isolation
  • CM-7 Least Functionality
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V10.4.2
  • V10.4.5
  • V15.1.3
  • V15.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly addresses the root cause by requiring timely application of the kernel patch that eliminates the race window between misc IRQ enable and service task initialization.

prevent

Enforces isolation between interrupt handling paths and device initialization tasks, reducing the likelihood that a prematurely enabled IRQ can invoke uninitialized service-task code.

prevent

Restricts automatic enabling of the misc interrupt vector at IRQ request time, implementing least functionality for the hns3 driver initialization sequence.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper synchronization primitives and concurrency testing that prevent race conditions.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing can detect race conditions, but does not prevent them at design or coding time.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates concurrency controls and synchronization primitives that directly prevent race conditions.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify thread-safety and locking rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require proper synchronization and resource isolation, addressing the root cause of CWE-362.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe concurrent access patterns and mandate atomic operations or locks.

none

Change management reduces introduction of concurrency bugs during updates, yet does not address the weakness itself.

References