Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-21914

Memory Safety in Linux Kernel 4.16 – 5.4.291

Published
01 April 2025
Modified
30 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0021 11th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2025-21914 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Linux Linux Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 11th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: slimbus: messaging: Free transaction ID in delayed interrupt scenario In case of interrupt delay for any reason, slim_do_transfer() returns timeout error but the transaction ID (TID) is not freed. This…

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results into invalid memory access inside qcom_slim_ngd_rx_msgq_cb() due to invalid TID. Fix the issue by freeing the TID in slim_do_transfer() before returning timeout error to avoid invalid memory access. Call trace: __memcpy_fromio+0x20/0x190 qcom_slim_ngd_rx_msgq_cb+0x130/0x290 [slim_qcom_ngd_ctrl] vchan_complete+0x2a0/0x4a0 tasklet_action_common+0x274/0x700 tasklet_action+0x28/0x3c _stext+0x188/0x620 run_ksoftirqd+0x34/0x74 smpboot_thread_fn+0x1d8/0x464 kthread+0x178/0x238 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Code: aa0003e8 91000429 f100044a 3940002b (3800150b) ---[ end trace 0fe00bec2b975c99 ]--- Kernel panic - not syncing: Oops: Fatal exception in interrupt.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-45026Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-21734Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-56740Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-26815Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-37944Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-52836Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-35797Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-52868Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-53193Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2025-23133Same product: Linux Linux Kernel

Affected Assets

linux
linux kernel
6.14 · 4.16 — 5.4.291 · 5.5 — 5.10.235 · 5.11 — 5.15.179

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and bounds checks) finds out-of-bounds write flaws before deployment.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Input validation can structurally reject or sanitize data that would otherwise trigger an out-of-bounds write.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability and blast radius of a successful out-of-bounds write.

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-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

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.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles reduce the likelihood of buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding directly addresses out-of-bounds writes through language choice and coding standards.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References