# CVE-2025-21969: Bluetooth: L2CAP: Fix slab-use-after-free Read in l2cap_send_cmd > A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel Bluetooth L2CAP subsystem allows attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code. - **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 1 Apr 2025 - **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-60251, AZL-60270, BELL-CVE-2025-21969, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21969, GHSA-9v7h-vc98-97mp, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-21969, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-21969, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-21969, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21969, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21969 ## What is CVE-2025-21969? CVE-2025-21969 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Apr 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: Bluetooth: L2CAP: Fix slab-use-after-free Read in l2cap_send_cmd After the hci sync command releases l2cap_conn, the hci receive data work queue references the released l2cap_conn when sending to the upper layer. Add hci dev lock to the hci receive data work queue to synchronize the two. [1] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in l2cap_send_cmd+0x187/0x8d0 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:954 Read of size 8 at addr ffff8880271a4000 by task kworker/u9:2/5837 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5837 Comm: kworker/u9:2 Not tainted 6.13.0-rc5-syzkaller-00163-gab75170520d4 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 09/13/2024 Workqueue: hci1 hci_rx_work Call Trace: __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x241/0x360 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0x169/0x550 mm/kasan/report.c:489 kasan_report+0x143/0x180 mm/kasan/report.c:602 l2cap_build_cmd net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:2964 [inline] l2cap_send_cmd+0x187/0x8d0 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:954 l2cap_sig_send_rej net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:5502 [inline] l2cap_sig_channel net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:5538 [inline] l2cap_recv_frame+0x221f/0x10db0 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:6817 hci_acldata_packet net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:3797 [inline] hci_rx_work+0x508/0xdb0 net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:4040 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3229 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xa66/0x1840 kernel/workqueue.c:3310 worker_thread+0x870/0xd30 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x2f0/0x390 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x4b/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:244 Allocated by task 5837: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3f/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:68 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:377 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0x98/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:394 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:260 [inline] __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x243/0x390 mm/slub.c:4329 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:901 [inline] kzalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:1037 [inline] l2cap_conn_add+0xa9/0x8e0 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:6860 l2cap_connect_cfm+0x115/0x1090 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:7239 hci_connect_cfm include/net/bluetooth/hci_core.h:2057 [inline] hci_remote_features_evt+0x68e/0xac0 net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:3726 hci_event_func net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:7473 [inline] hci_event_packet+0xac2/0x1540 net/bluetooth/hci_event.c:7525 hci_rx_work+0x3f3/0xdb0 net/bluetooth/hci_core.c:4035 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3229 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xa66/0x1840 kernel/workqueue.c:3310 worker_thread+0x870/0xd30 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x2f0/0x390 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x4b/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:244 Freed by task 54: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:47 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3f/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:68 kasan_save_free_info+0x40/0x50 mm/kasan/generic.c:582 poison_slab_object mm/kasan/common.c:247 [inline] __kasan_slab_free+0x59/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:264 kasan_slab_free include/linux/kasan.h:233 [inline] slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:2353 [inline] slab_free mm/slub.c:4613 [inline] kfree+0x196/0x430 mm/slub.c:4761 l2cap_connect_cfm+0xcc/0x1090 net/bluetooth/l2cap_core.c:7235 hci_connect_cfm include/net/bluetooth/hci_core.h:2057 [inline] hci_conn_failed+0x287/0x400 net/bluetooth/hci_conn.c:1266 hci_abort_conn_sync+0x56c/0x11f0 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:5603 hci_cmd_sync_work+0x22b/0x400 net/bluetooth/hci_sync.c:332 process_one_work kernel/workqueue.c:3229 [inline] process_scheduled_works+0xa66/0x1840 kernel/workqueue.c:3310 worker_thread+0x870/0xd30 kernel/workqueue.c:3391 kthread+0x2f0/0x390 kernel/kthread.c:389 ret_from_fork+0x4b/0x80 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:147 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entr ---truncated--- Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21969? It affects 1 product. Products: Linux kernel. ## How do I fix CVE-2025-21969? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2025-21969 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21969 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-2025-21969 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2025-21969 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Apr 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-2025-21969 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-2025-21969/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21969/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21969 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21969 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21969 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21969/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.