# CVE-2025-21938: mptcp: fix 'scheduling while atomic' in mptcp_pm_nl_append_new_local_addr

> A race condition in the Linux kernel MPTCP module causes a scheduling while atomic bug, leading to a system crash or denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 Apr 2025
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-21938, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21938, GHSA-64vr-rmgj-v53q, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21938

## What is CVE-2025-21938?

CVE-2025-21938 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Apr 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mptcp: fix 'scheduling while atomic' in mptcp_pm_nl_append_new_local_addr

If multiple connection requests attempt to create an implicit mptcp
endpoint in parallel, more than one caller may end up in
mptcp_pm_nl_append_new_local_addr because none found the address in
local_addr_list during their call to mptcp_pm_nl_get_local_id.  In this
case, the concurrent new_local_addr calls may delete the address entry
created by the previous caller.  These deletes use synchronize_rcu, but
this is not permitted in some of the contexts where this function may be
called.  During packet recv, the caller may be in a rcu read critical
section and have preemption disabled.

An example stack:

   BUG: scheduling while atomic: swapper/2/0/0x00000302

   Call Trace:
   <IRQ>
   dump_stack_lvl (lib/dump_stack.c:117 (discriminator 1))
   dump_stack (lib/dump_stack.c:124)
   __schedule_bug (kernel/sched/core.c:5943)
   schedule_debug.constprop.0 (arch/x86/include/asm/preempt.h:33 kernel/sched/core.c:5970)
   __schedule (arch/x86/include/asm/jump_label.h:27 include/linux/jump_label.h:207 kernel/sched/features.h:29 kernel/sched/core.c:6621)
   schedule (arch/x86/include/asm/preempt.h:84 kernel/sched/core.c:6804 kernel/sched/core.c:6818)
   schedule_timeout (kernel/time/timer.c:2160)
   wait_for_completion (kernel/sched/completion.c:96 kernel/sched/completion.c:116 kernel/sched/completion.c:127 kernel/sched/completion.c:148)
   __wait_rcu_gp (include/linux/rcupdate.h:311 kernel/rcu/update.c:444)
   synchronize_rcu (kernel/rcu/tree.c:3609)
   mptcp_pm_nl_append_new_local_addr (net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:966 net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:1061)
   mptcp_pm_nl_get_local_id (net/mptcp/pm_netlink.c:1164)
   mptcp_pm_get_local_id (net/mptcp/pm.c:420)
   subflow_check_req (net/mptcp/subflow.c:98 net/mptcp/subflow.c:213)
   subflow_v4_route_req (net/mptcp/subflow.c:305)
   tcp_conn_request (net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:7216)
   subflow_v4_conn_request (net/mptcp/subflow.c:651)
   tcp_rcv_state_process (net/ipv4/tcp_input.c:6709)
   tcp_v4_do_rcv (net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:1934)
   tcp_v4_rcv (net/ipv4/tcp_ipv4.c:2334)
   ip_protocol_deliver_rcu (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:205 (discriminator 1))
   ip_local_deliver_finish (include/linux/rcupdate.h:813 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:234)
   ip_local_deliver (include/linux/netfilter.h:314 include/linux/netfilter.h:308 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:254)
   ip_sublist_rcv_finish (include/net/dst.h:461 net/ipv4/ip_input.c:580)
   ip_sublist_rcv (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:640)
   ip_list_rcv (net/ipv4/ip_input.c:675)
   __netif_receive_skb_list_core (net/core/dev.c:5583 net/core/dev.c:5631)
   netif_receive_skb_list_internal (net/core/dev.c:5685 net/core/dev.c:5774)
   napi_complete_done (include/linux/list.h:37 include/net/gro.h:449 include/net/gro.h:444 net/core/dev.c:6114)
   igb_poll (drivers/net/ethernet/intel/igb/igb_main.c:8244) igb
   __napi_poll (net/core/dev.c:6582)
   net_rx_action (net/core/dev.c:6653 net/core/dev.c:6787)
   handle_softirqs (kernel/softirq.c:553)
   __irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:588 kernel/softirq.c:427 kernel/softirq.c:636)
   irq_exit_rcu (kernel/softirq.c:651)
   common_interrupt (arch/x86/kernel/irq.c:247 (discriminator 14))
   </IRQ>

This problem seems particularly prevalent if the user advertises an
endpoint that has a different external vs internal address.  In the case
where the external address is advertised and multiple connections
already exist, multiple subflow SYNs arrive in parallel which tends to
trigger the race during creation of the first local_addr_list entries
which have the internal address instead.

Fix by skipping the replacement of an existing implicit local address if
called via mptcp_pm_nl_get_local_id.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21938?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21938?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21938 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21938 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-2025-21938 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21938 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Apr 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21938 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-2025-21938/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21938/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21938
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21938
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21938

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21938/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.