# CVE-2025-21709: kernel: be more careful about dup_mmap() failures and uprobe registering

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's memory management can lead to system instability or crashes when memory allocation fails during process forking.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-21709, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21709, GHSA-vh2p-4gfm-v9v7, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-21709, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21709, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21709

## What is CVE-2025-21709?

CVE-2025-21709 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

kernel: be more careful about dup_mmap() failures and uprobe registering

If a memory allocation fails during dup_mmap(), the maple tree can be left
in an unsafe state for other iterators besides the exit path.  All the
locks are dropped before the exit_mmap() call (in mm/mmap.c), but the
incomplete mm_struct can be reached through (at least) the rmap finding
the vmas which have a pointer back to the mm_struct.

Up to this point, there have been no issues with being able to find an
mm_struct that was only partially initialised.  Syzbot was able to make
the incomplete mm_struct fail with recent forking changes, so it has been
proven unsafe to use the mm_struct that hasn't been initialised, as
referenced in the link below.

Although 8ac662f5da19f ("fork: avoid inappropriate uprobe access to
invalid mm") fixed the uprobe access, it does not completely remove the
race.

This patch sets the MMF_OOM_SKIP to avoid the iteration of the vmas on the
oom side (even though this is extremely unlikely to be selected as an oom
victim in the race window), and sets MMF_UNSTABLE to avoid other potential
users from using a partially initialised mm_struct.

When registering vmas for uprobe, skip the vmas in an mm that is marked
unstable.  Modifying a vma in an unstable mm may cause issues if the mm
isn't fully initialised.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21709?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21709?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21709 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21709 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-21709 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21709 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21709 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21709/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21709/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21709
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21709
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21709

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21709/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.