# CVE-2025-21770: iommu: Fix potential memory leak in iopf_queue_remove_device()

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel IOMMU driver can lead to resource exhaustion and denial of service when devices are removed with pending page requests.

- **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:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-21770, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21770, GHSA-9q42-qq54-fwvj, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21770

## What is CVE-2025-21770?

CVE-2025-21770 is a medium-severity denial of service 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:

iommu: Fix potential memory leak in iopf_queue_remove_device()

The iopf_queue_remove_device() helper removes a device from the per-iommu
iopf queue when PRI is disabled on the device. It responds to all
outstanding iopf's with an IOMMU_PAGE_RESP_INVALID code and detaches the
device from the queue.

However, it fails to release the group structure that represents a group
of iopf's awaiting for a response after responding to the hardware. This
can cause a memory leak if iopf_queue_remove_device() is called with
pending iopf's.

Fix it by calling iopf_free_group() after the iopf group is responded.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21770?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21770?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21770 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21770 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-2025-21770 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21770 is a medium-severity denial of service 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-2025-21770 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-2025-21770/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21770/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21770
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21770
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21770

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21770/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.