# CVE-2025-21974: eth: bnxt: return fail if interface is down in bnxt_queue_mem_alloc()

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel panic by restarting a network queue while the interface is down, causing a denial of service.

- **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:** 1 Apr 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-21974, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21974, GHSA-c863-9ggg-4m2g, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21974

## What is CVE-2025-21974?

CVE-2025-21974 is a medium-severity 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:

eth: bnxt: return fail if interface is down in bnxt_queue_mem_alloc()

The bnxt_queue_mem_alloc() is called to allocate new queue memory when
a queue is restarted.
It internally accesses rx buffer descriptor corresponding to the index.
The rx buffer descriptor is allocated and set when the interface is up
and it's freed when the interface is down.
So, if queue is restarted if interface is down, kernel panic occurs.

Splat looks like:
 BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 000000000000b240
 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
 #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
 PGD 0 P4D 0
 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI
 CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 1563 Comm: ncdevmem2 Not tainted 6.14.0-rc2+ #9 844ddba6e7c459cafd0bf4db9a3198e
 Hardware name: ASUS System Product Name/PRIME Z690-P D4, BIOS 0603 11/01/2021
 RIP: 0010:bnxt_queue_mem_alloc+0x3f/0x4e0 [bnxt_en]
 Code: 41 54 4d 89 c4 4d 69 c0 c0 05 00 00 55 48 89 f5 53 48 89 fb 4c 8d b5 40 05 00 00 48 83 ec 15
 RSP: 0018:ffff9dcc83fef9e8 EFLAGS: 00010202
 RAX: ffffffffc0457720 RBX: ffff934ed8d40000 RCX: 0000000000000000
 RDX: 000000000000001f RSI: ffff934ea508f800 RDI: ffff934ea508f808
 RBP: ffff934ea508f800 R08: 000000000000b240 R09: ffff934e84f4b000
 R10: ffff9dcc83fefa30 R11: ffff934e84f4b000 R12: 000000000000001f
 R13: ffff934ed8d40ac0 R14: ffff934ea508fd40 R15: ffff934e84f4b000
 FS:  00007fa73888c740(0000) GS:ffff93559f780000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
 CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
 CR2: 000000000000b240 CR3: 0000000145a2e000 CR4: 00000000007506f0
 PKRU: 55555554
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  ? __die+0x20/0x70
  ? page_fault_oops+0x15a/0x460
  ? exc_page_fault+0x6e/0x180
  ? asm_exc_page_fault+0x22/0x30
  ? __pfx_bnxt_queue_mem_alloc+0x10/0x10 [bnxt_en 7f85e76f4d724ba07471d7e39d9e773aea6597b7]
  ? bnxt_queue_mem_alloc+0x3f/0x4e0 [bnxt_en 7f85e76f4d724ba07471d7e39d9e773aea6597b7]
  netdev_rx_queue_restart+0xc5/0x240
  net_devmem_bind_dmabuf_to_queue+0xf8/0x200
  netdev_nl_bind_rx_doit+0x3a7/0x450
  genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0xd9/0x130
  genl_rcv_msg+0x184/0x2b0
  ? __pfx_netdev_nl_bind_rx_doit+0x10/0x10
  ? __pfx_genl_rcv_msg+0x10/0x10
  netlink_rcv_skb+0x54/0x100
  genl_rcv+0x24/0x40
...

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21974?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21974?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21974 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21974 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-2025-21974 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21974 is a medium-severity 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-2025-21974 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-2025-21974/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21974/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21974
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21974
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21974

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21974/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.