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TI-2025-15871 Aliases CVE-2025-21921GHSA-qc6x-3767-556f

net: ethtool: netlink: Allow NULL nlattrs when getting a phy_device

Priority LOW 24CWE-476Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ethtool: netlink: Allow NULL nlattrs when getting a phy_device ethnl_req_get_phydev() is used to lookup a phy_device, in the case an ethtool netlink command targets a specific phydev within a netdev's topology. It takes as a parameter a const struct nlattr *header that's used for error handling : if (!phydev) { NL_SET_ERR_MSG_ATTR(extack, header, "no phy matching phyindex"); return ERR_PTR(-ENODEV); } In the notify path after a ->set operation however, there's no request attributes available. The typical callsite for the above function looks like: phydev = ethnl_req_get_phydev(req_base, tb[ETHTOOL_A_XXX_HEADER], info->extack); So, when tb is NULL (such as in the ethnl notify path), we have a nice crash. It turns out that there's only the PLCA command that is in that case, as the other phydev-specific commands don't have a notification. This commit fixes the crash by passing the cmd index and the nlattr array separately, allowing NULL-checking it directly inside the helper.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00209 11th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.12.19, 6.13.7, 6.14Red Hat: 2 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.12 and later6.12.19, 6.13.7, 6.14Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.12 and later Fixed in 6.12.19, 6.13.7, 6.14 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 6

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*6.12 to before 6.12.19; 6.13 to before 6.13.7VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*6.14 rc1VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*6.14 rc2VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*6.14 rc3VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*6.14 rc4VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*6.14 rc5VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.12 to before 6.12.19; 6.13 to before 6.13.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.14 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.14 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.14 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.14 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.14 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.19, 6.13.7, 6.14

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 3 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-21921
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-qc6x-3767-556f
  3. 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
See all 15278 →

Sources