CVE-2025-21838 usb: gadget: core: flush gadget workqueue after device removal
A race condition in the Linux kernel USB gadget core allows work to be scheduled after device removal, potentially causing a system crash or denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2025-21838?
CVE-2025-21838 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 7 Mar 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:
usb: gadget: core: flush gadget workqueue after device removal
device_del() can lead to new work being scheduled in gadget->work workqueue. This is observed, for example, with the dwc3 driver with the following call stack: device_del() gadget_unbind_driver() usb_gadget_disconnect_locked() dwc3_gadget_pullup() dwc3_gadget_soft_disconnect() usb_gadget_set_state() schedule_work(&gadget->work)
Move flush_work() after device_del() to ensure the workqueue is cleaned up.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21838?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-21838?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-21838 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21838 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-69012, BELL-CVE-2025-21838, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21838, GHSA-9h49-4vx3-2m5r, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-21838, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-21838 and 2 more.