CVE Intelligence
Medium Memory corruption

CVE-2025-21861 — mm/migrate_device: don't add folio to be freed to LRU in migrate_device_finalize()

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/migrate_device: don't add folio to be freed to LRU in migrate_device_finalize() If migration succeeded, we called folio_migrate_flags()->mem_cgroup_migrate() to migrate the memcg from the old to the new folio. This will set memcg_data of the old folio to 0. Similarly, if migration failed, memcg_data of the dst folio is left unset. If we call folio_putback_lru() on such folios (memcg_data == 0), we will add the folio to be freed to the LRU, making memcg code unhappy. Running the hmm selftests: # ./hmm-tests ... # RUN hmm.hmm_device_private.migrate ... [ 102.078007][T14893] page: refcount:1 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x7ff27d200 pfn:0x13cc00 [ 102.079974][T14893] anon flags: 0x17ff00000020018(uptodate|dirty|swapbacked|node=0|zone=2|lastcpupid=0x7ff) [ 102.082037][T14893] raw: 017ff00000020018 dead000000000100 dead000000000122 ffff8881353896c9 [ 102.083687][T14893] raw: 00000007ff27d200 0000000000000000 00000001ffffffff 0000000000000000 [ 102.085331][T14893] page dumped because: VM_WARN_ON_ONCE_FOLIO(!memcg && !mem_cgroup_disabled()) [ 102.087230][T14893] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 102.088279][T14893] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 14893 at ./include/linux/memcontrol.h:726 folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.090478][T14893] Modules linked in: [ 102.091244][T14893] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 14893 Comm: hmm-tests Not tainted 6.13.0-09623-g6c216bc522fd #151 [ 102.093089][T14893] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-2.fc40 04/01/2014 [ 102.094848][T14893] RIP: 0010:folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.096104][T14893] Code: ... [ 102.099908][T14893] RSP: 0018:ffffc900236c37b0 EFLAGS: 00010293 [ 102.101152][T14893] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffea0004f30000 RCX: ffffffff8183f426 [ 102.102684][T14893] RDX: ffff8881063cb880 RSI: ffffffff81b8117f RDI: ffff8881063cb880 [ 102.104227][T14893] RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 102.105757][T14893] R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000002 R12: ffffc900236c37d8 [ 102.107296][T14893] R13: ffff888277a2bcb0 R14: 000000000000001f R15: 0000000000000000 [ 102.108830][T14893] FS: 00007ff27dbdd740(0000) GS:ffff888277a00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 102.110643][T14893] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 102.111924][T14893] CR2: 00007ff27d400000 CR3: 000000010866e000 CR4: 0000000000750ef0 [ 102.113478][T14893] PKRU: 55555554 [ 102.114172][T14893] Call Trace: [ 102.114805][T14893] <TASK> [ 102.115397][T14893] ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.116547][T14893] ? __warn.cold+0x110/0x210 [ 102.117461][T14893] ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.118667][T14893] ? report_bug+0x1b9/0x320 [ 102.119571][T14893] ? handle_bug+0x54/0x90 [ 102.120494][T14893] ? exc_invalid_op+0x17/0x50 [ 102.121433][T14893] ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1a/0x20 [ 102.122435][T14893] ? __wake_up_klogd.part.0+0x76/0xd0 [ 102.123506][T14893] ? dump_page+0x4f/0x60 [ 102.124352][T14893] ? folio_lruvec_lock_irqsave+0x10e/0x170 [ 102.125500][T14893] folio_batch_move_lru+0xd4/0x200 [ 102.126577][T14893] ? __pfx_lru_add+0x10/0x10 [ 102.127505][T14893] __folio_batch_add_and_move+0x391/0x720 [ 102.128633][T14893] ? __pfx_lru_add+0x10/0x10 [ 102.129550][T14893] folio_putback_lru+0x16/0x80 [ 102.130564][T14893] migrate_device_finalize+0x9b/0x530 [ 102.131640][T14893] dmirror_migrate_to_device.constprop.0+0x7c5/0xad0 [ 102.133047][T14893] dmirror_fops_unlocked_ioctl+0x89b/0xc80 Likely, nothing else goes wrong: putting the last folio reference will remove the folio from the LRU again. So besides memcg complaining, adding the folio to be freed to the LRU is just an unnecessary step. The new flow resembles what we have in migrate_folio_move(): add the dst to the lru, rem ---truncated---

Published Mar 12, 2025 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+2
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.23%
ahead of 13% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
5.5
Medium · 3 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — git.kernel.org (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux, Linux Linux Kernel).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux ≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 61fa824e304ed162fe965f64999068e6fcff2059≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 64397b0cb7c09e3ef3f9f5c7c17299c4eebd3875≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 4f52f7c50f5b6f5eeb06823e21fe546d90f9c595≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 20fb6fc51863fbff7868de8b5f6d249d2094df1f≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 78f579cb7d825134e071a1714d8d0c4fd0ffe459≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 3f9240d59e9a95d19f06120bfd1d0e681c6c0ac7≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 069dd21ea8262204f94737878389c2815a054a9e≥ 8763cb45ab967a92a5ee49e9c544c0f0ea90e2d6 and < 41cddf83d8b00f29fd105e7a0777366edc69a5cf
and 1 more version 4.14
Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel ≥ 4.14 and < 6.12.17≥ 6.13 and < 6.13.5version 6.14-rc1version 6.14-rc2version 6.14-rc3 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.8 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.8 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-416 · Use After Free

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 5.5
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Mar 12, 2025 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

10 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-416
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99999 ipv4: validate checksum_start before completing checksum 14h
  • CVE-2026-98432 ipv4: free inet_opt and ireq_opt after an RCU grace period 14h
  • CVE-2026-98424 wifi: cfg80211: undo netns switch if renaming the wiphy fails 1d
  • CVE-2026-98425 wifi: mac80211: don't warn when an IBSS has no channel to scan 1d
  • CVE-2026-98426 wifi: mwifiex: fix IRQ leak using wrong index in MSI-X error path 1d
  • CVE-2026-98427 net/sched: codel: bound the dropping loop per dequeue call 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2025-21861 is "mm/migrate_device: don't add folio to be freed to LRU in migrate_device_finalize()", rated Medium. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.23% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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