CVE Intelligence
Medium Memory corruption

CVE-2025-21972 — net: mctp: unshare packets when reassembling

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: mctp: unshare packets when reassembling Ensure that the frag_list used for reassembly isn't shared with other packets. This avoids incorrect reassembly when packets are cloned, and prevents a memory leak due to circular references between fragments and their skb_shared_info. The upcoming MCTP-over-USB driver uses skb_clone which can trigger the problem - other MCTP drivers don't share SKBs. A kunit test is added to reproduce the issue.

Published Apr 1, 2025 · Updated Oct 21, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · 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 21, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
5.5
Medium · 4 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 8.8 provisional

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 ≥ 4a992bbd365094730a31bae1e12a6ca695336d57 and < 3d0281d0713952e8dd14d6d47e3a9c345c28a3b7≥ 4a992bbd365094730a31bae1e12a6ca695336d57 and < 5c47d5bfa7b096cf8890afac32141c578583f8e0≥ 4a992bbd365094730a31bae1e12a6ca695336d57 and < f44fff3d3c6cd67b6f348b821d73c4d6888c7a6e≥ 4a992bbd365094730a31bae1e12a6ca695336d57 and < f5d83cf0eeb90fade4d5c4d17d24b8bee9ceeeccversion 5.15 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Linux Linux Kernel ≥ 5.15 and < 6.12.20≥ 6.13 and < 6.13.8version 6.14-rc1version 6.14-rc2version 6.14-rc3version 6.14-rc4version 6.14-rc5version 6.14-rc6 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
8.8 CVSS 3.1 High 2.8 5.9 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
8.8 CVSS 3.1 High — — Linux via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 1.8 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
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)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 8.8 (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-401 · Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 20, 2026 → Oct 21, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.23%

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 21, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 21, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · linux/linux kernel
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 5.5
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 21, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 21, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Apr 1, 2025 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 21, 2026 – Oct 21, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 21, 2026 – Oct 21, 2026

References

6 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-401
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-98869 bpf: Infer zext_dst based on static register liveness analysis 14h
  • CVE-2023-7356 Bluetooth: ISO: Copy BASE if service data matches EIR_BAA_SERVICE_UUID 14h
  • CVE-2026-98866 sched/cache: Introduce task_struct->sched_cache_grp to fix UAF 3d
  • CVE-2026-98867 dm-pcache: bound the logical key offset from persistent memory 3d
  • CVE-2026-98868 dm-pcache: reject a kset that overruns its segment 3d
  • CVE-2026-98856 kprobes: Skip disarmed probes when checking optkprobe overlap 3d

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 CISA SSVC assessment.
  • 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-2025-21972 is "net: mctp: unshare packets when reassembling", 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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