# CVE-2025-21808: net: xdp: Disallow attaching device-bound programs in generic mode

> Attaching device-bound XDP programs in generic mode causes kernel crashes due to invalid context access, leading to denial of service.

- **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-2025-21808, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21808, GHSA-gh8v-hvqf-g2jx, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21808, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21808

## What is CVE-2025-21808?

CVE-2025-21808 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:

net: xdp: Disallow attaching device-bound programs in generic mode

Device-bound programs are used to support RX metadata kfuncs. These
kfuncs are driver-specific and rely on the driver context to read the
metadata. This means they can't work in generic XDP mode. However, there
is no check to disallow such programs from being attached in generic
mode, in which case the metadata kfuncs will be called in an invalid
context, leading to crashes.

Fix this by adding a check to disallow attaching device-bound programs
in generic mode.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21808?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21808?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21808 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21808 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-2025-21808 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21808 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-2025-21808 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-2025-21808/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21808/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21808
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21808
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21808

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21808/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.