# CVE-2025-21716: vxlan: Fix uninit-value in vxlan_vnifilter_dump()

> A local attacker can trigger an uninitialized memory read in the Linux kernel VXLAN driver, potentially disclosing sensitive kernel memory contents.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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-2025-21716, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21716, GHSA-89mr-qgjp-42xf, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21716, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21716

## What is CVE-2025-21716?

CVE-2025-21716 is a medium-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:

vxlan: Fix uninit-value in vxlan_vnifilter_dump()

KMSAN reported an uninit-value access in vxlan_vnifilter_dump() [1].

If the length of the netlink message payload is less than
sizeof(struct tunnel_msg), vxlan_vnifilter_dump() accesses bytes
beyond the message. This can lead to uninit-value access. Fix this by
returning an error in such situations.

[1]
BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in vxlan_vnifilter_dump+0x328/0x920 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_vnifilter.c:422
 vxlan_vnifilter_dump+0x328/0x920 drivers/net/vxlan/vxlan_vnifilter.c:422
 rtnl_dumpit+0xd5/0x2f0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6786
 netlink_dump+0x93e/0x15f0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2317
 __netlink_dump_start+0x716/0xd60 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2432
 netlink_dump_start include/linux/netlink.h:340 [inline]
 rtnetlink_dump_start net/core/rtnetlink.c:6815 [inline]
 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x1256/0x14a0 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6882
 netlink_rcv_skb+0x467/0x660 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2542
 rtnetlink_rcv+0x35/0x40 net/core/rtnetlink.c:6944
 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1321 [inline]
 netlink_unicast+0xed6/0x1290 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1347
 netlink_sendmsg+0x1092/0x1230 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1891
 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:711 [inline]
 __sock_sendmsg+0x330/0x3d0 net/socket.c:726
 ____sys_sendmsg+0x7f4/0xb50 net/socket.c:2583
 ___sys_sendmsg+0x271/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2637
 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2669 [inline]
 __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2674 [inline]
 __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2672 [inline]
 __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x211/0x3e0 net/socket.c:2672
 x64_sys_call+0x3878/0x3d90 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x1d0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

Uninit was created at:
 slab_post_alloc_hook mm/slub.c:4110 [inline]
 slab_alloc_node mm/slub.c:4153 [inline]
 kmem_cache_alloc_node_noprof+0x800/0xe80 mm/slub.c:4205
 kmalloc_reserve+0x13b/0x4b0 net/core/skbuff.c:587
 __alloc_skb+0x347/0x7d0 net/core/skbuff.c:678
 alloc_skb include/linux/skbuff.h:1323 [inline]
 netlink_alloc_large_skb+0xa5/0x280 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1196
 netlink_sendmsg+0xac9/0x1230 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1866
 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:711 [inline]
 __sock_sendmsg+0x330/0x3d0 net/socket.c:726
 ____sys_sendmsg+0x7f4/0xb50 net/socket.c:2583
 ___sys_sendmsg+0x271/0x3b0 net/socket.c:2637
 __sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2669 [inline]
 __do_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2674 [inline]
 __se_sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2672 [inline]
 __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x211/0x3e0 net/socket.c:2672
 x64_sys_call+0x3878/0x3d90 arch/x86/include/generated/asm/syscalls_64.h:47
 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]
 do_syscall_64+0xd9/0x1d0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 30991 Comm: syz.4.10630 Not tainted 6.12.0-10694-gc44daa7e3c73 #29
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-3.fc41 04/01/2014

Weakness: CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21716?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21716?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21716 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21716 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-2025-21716 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21716 is a medium-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-2025-21716 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-2025-21716/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21716/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21716
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21716
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21716

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21716/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.