# CVE-2025-21891: ipvlan: ensure network headers are in skb linear part

> A missing check in the Linux kernel ipvlan driver allows uninitialized memory access, potentially causing a system crash.

- **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 Mar 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-60331, BELL-CVE-2025-21891, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21891, GHSA-fcmx-wvw9-587f, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-21891, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-21891, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21891, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21891

## What is CVE-2025-21891?

CVE-2025-21891 is a medium-severity memory corruption 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:

ipvlan: ensure network headers are in skb linear part

syzbot found that ipvlan_process_v6_outbound() was assuming
the IPv6 network header isis present in skb->head [1]

Add the needed pskb_network_may_pull() calls for both
IPv4 and IPv6 handlers.

[1]
BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in __ipv6_addr_type+0xa2/0x490 net/ipv6/addrconf_core.c:47
  __ipv6_addr_type+0xa2/0x490 net/ipv6/addrconf_core.c:47
  ipv6_addr_type include/net/ipv6.h:555 [inline]
  ip6_route_output_flags_noref net/ipv6/route.c:2616 [inline]
  ip6_route_output_flags+0x51/0x720 net/ipv6/route.c:2651
  ip6_route_output include/net/ip6_route.h:93 [inline]
  ipvlan_route_v6_outbound+0x24e/0x520 drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_core.c:476
  ipvlan_process_v6_outbound drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_core.c:491 [inline]
  ipvlan_process_outbound drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_core.c:541 [inline]
  ipvlan_xmit_mode_l3 drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_core.c:605 [inline]
  ipvlan_queue_xmit+0xd72/0x1780 drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_core.c:671
  ipvlan_start_xmit+0x5b/0x210 drivers/net/ipvlan/ipvlan_main.c:223
  __netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:5150 [inline]
  netdev_start_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:5159 [inline]
  xmit_one net/core/dev.c:3735 [inline]
  dev_hard_start_xmit+0x247/0xa20 net/core/dev.c:3751
  sch_direct_xmit+0x399/0xd40 net/sched/sch_generic.c:343
  qdisc_restart net/sched/sch_generic.c:408 [inline]
  __qdisc_run+0x14da/0x35d0 net/sched/sch_generic.c:416
  qdisc_run+0x141/0x4d0 include/net/pkt_sched.h:127
  net_tx_action+0x78b/0x940 net/core/dev.c:5484
  handle_softirqs+0x1a0/0x7c0 kernel/softirq.c:561
  __do_softirq+0x14/0x1a kernel/softirq.c:595
  do_softirq+0x9a/0x100 kernel/softirq.c:462
  __local_bh_enable_ip+0x9f/0xb0 kernel/softirq.c:389
  local_bh_enable include/linux/bottom_half.h:33 [inline]
  rcu_read_unlock_bh include/linux/rcupdate.h:919 [inline]
  __dev_queue_xmit+0x2758/0x57d0 net/core/dev.c:4611
  dev_queue_xmit include/linux/netdevice.h:3311 [inline]
  packet_xmit+0x9c/0x6c0 net/packet/af_packet.c:276
  packet_snd net/packet/af_packet.c:3132 [inline]
  packet_sendmsg+0x93e0/0xa7e0 net/packet/af_packet.c:3164
  sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:718 [inline]

Weakness: CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21891?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21891?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21891 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21891 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-2025-21891 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21891 is a medium-severity memory corruption 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-2025-21891 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-2025-21891/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21891/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21891
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21891
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21891

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21891/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.