# CVE-2025-21875: mptcp: always handle address removal under msk socket lock

> A race condition in the Linux kernel MPTCP path can cause a lockdep warning and potential system instability or crash.

- **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 Mar 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-21875, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21875, GHSA-8p7r-x8qv-vv63, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21875, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21875

## What is CVE-2025-21875?

CVE-2025-21875 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 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:

mptcp: always handle address removal under msk socket lock

Syzkaller reported a lockdep splat in the PM control path:

  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 6693 at ./include/net/sock.h:1711 sock_owned_by_me include/net/sock.h:1711 [inline]
  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 6693 at ./include/net/sock.h:1711 msk_owned_by_me net/mptcp/protocol.h:363 [inline]
  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 6693 at ./include/net/sock.h:1711 mptcp_pm_nl_addr_send_ack+0x57c/0x610 net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:788
  Modules linked in:
  CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6693 Comm: syz.0.205 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc2-syzkaller-00303-gad1b832bf1cf #0
  Hardware name: Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 12/27/2024
  RIP: 0010:sock_owned_by_me include/net/sock.h:1711 [inline]
  RIP: 0010:msk_owned_by_me net/mptcp/protocol.h:363 [inline]
  RIP: 0010:mptcp_pm_nl_addr_send_ack+0x57c/0x610 net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:788
  Code: 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d c3 cc cc cc cc e8 ca 7b d3 f5 eb b9 e8 c3 7b d3 f5 90 0f 0b 90 e9 dd fb ff ff e8 b5 7b d3 f5 90 <0f> 0b 90 e9 3e fb ff ff 44 89 f1 80 e1 07 38 c1 0f 8c eb fb ff ff
  RSP: 0000:ffffc900034f6f60 EFLAGS: 00010283
  RAX: ffffffff8bee3c2b RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: 0000000000080000
  RDX: ffffc90004d42000 RSI: 000000000000a407 RDI: 000000000000a408
  RBP: ffffc900034f7030 R08: ffffffff8bee37f6 R09: 0100000000000000
  R10: dffffc0000000000 R11: ffffed100bcc62e4 R12: ffff88805e6316e0
  R13: ffff88805e630c00 R14: dffffc0000000000 R15: ffff88805e630c00
  FS:  00007f7e9a7e96c0(0000) GS:ffff8880b8600000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
  CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
  CR2: 0000001b2fd18ff8 CR3: 0000000032c24000 CR4: 00000000003526f0
  DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
  DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   mptcp_pm_remove_addr+0x103/0x1d0 net/mptcp/pm.c:59
   mptcp_pm_remove_anno_addr+0x1f4/0x2f0 net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:1486
   mptcp_nl_remove_subflow_and_signal_addr net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:1518 [inline]
   mptcp_pm_nl_del_addr_doit+0x118d/0x1af0 net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:1629
   genl_family_rcv_msg_doit net/netlink/genetlink.c:1115 [inline]
   genl_family_rcv_msg net/netlink/genetlink.c:1195 [inline]
   genl_rcv_msg+0xb1f/0xec0 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1210
   netlink_rcv_skb+0x206/0x480 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2543
   genl_rcv+0x28/0x40 net/netlink/genetlink.c:1219
   netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1322 [inline]
   netlink_unicast+0x7f6/0x990 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1348
   netlink_sendmsg+0x8de/0xcb0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1892
   sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:718 [inline]
   __sock_sendmsg+0x221/0x270 net/socket.c:733
   ____sys_sendmsg+0x53a/0x860 net/socket.c:2573
   ___sys_sendmsg net/socket.c:2627 [inline]
   __sys_sendmsg+0x269/0x350 net/socket.c:2659
   do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:52 [inline]
   do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 arch/x86/entry/common.c:83
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
  RIP: 0033:0x7f7e9998cde9
  Code: ff ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 0f 1f 40 00 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 a8 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48
  RSP: 002b:00007f7e9a7e9038 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000002e
  RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f7e99ba5fa0 RCX: 00007f7e9998cde9
  RDX: 000000002000c094 RSI: 0000400000000000 RDI: 0000000000000007
  RBP: 00007f7e99a0e2a0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
  R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000000
  R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00007f7e99ba5fa0 R15: 00007fff49231088

Indeed the PM can try to send a RM_ADDR over a msk without acquiring
first the msk socket lock.

The bugged code-path comes from an early optimization: when there
are no subflows, the PM should (usually) not send RM_ADDR
notifications.

The above statement is incorrect, as without locks another process
could concur
---truncated---

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21875?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21875?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21875 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21875 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-2025-21875 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21875 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Mar 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-2025-21875 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-2025-21875/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21875/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21875
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21875
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21875

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21875/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.