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CVE-2025-21888
RDMA/mlx5: Fix a WARN during dereg_mr for DM type
Published 2025-03-27 (19 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/infiniband. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2025-21888 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.19-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.19-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 6.12.19-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.19-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 6.12.19-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.19-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Memory regions (MR) of type DM (device memory) do not have an associated umem. In the __mlx5_ib_dereg_mr() -> mlx5_free_priv_descs() flow, the code incorrectly takes the wrong branch, attempting to call dma_unmap_single() on a DMA address that is not mapped. This results in a WARN [1], as shown below. The issue is resolved by properly accounting for the DM type and ensuring the correct branch is selected in mlx5_free_priv_descs(). [1] WARNING: CPU: 12 PID: 1346 at drivers/iommu/dma-iommu.c:1230 iommu_dma_unmap_page+0x79/0x90 Modules linked in: ip6table_mangle ip6table_nat ip6table_filter ip6_tables iptable_mangle xt_conntrack xt_MASQUERADE nf_conntrack_netlink nfnetlink xt_addrtype iptable_nat nf_nat br_netfilter rpcsec_gss_krb5 auth_rpcgss oid_registry ovelay rpcrdma rdma_ucm ib_iser libiscsi scsi_transport_iscsi ib_umad rdma_cm ib_ipoib iw_cm ib_cm mlx5_ib ib_uverbs ib_core fuse mlx5_core CPU: 12 UID: 0 PID: 1346 Comm: ibv_rc_pingpong Not tainted 6.12.0-rc7+ #1631 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:iommu_dma_unmap_page+0x79/0x90 Code: 2b 49 3b 29 72 26 49 3b 69 08 73 20 4d 89 f0 44 89 e9 4c 89 e2 48 89 ee 48 89 df 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f e9 07 b8 88 ff <0f> 0b 5b 5d 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f c3 cc cc cc cc 66 0f 1f 44 00 RSP: 0018:ffffc90001913a10 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff88810194b0a8 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000001 RBP: ffff88810194b0a8 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000001 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007f537abdd740(0000) GS:ffff88885fb00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f537aeb8000 CR3: 000000010c248001 CR4: 0000000000372eb0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> ? __warn+0x84/0x190 ? iommu_dma_unmap_page+0x79/0x90 ? report_bug+0xf8/0x1c0 ? handle_bug+0x55/0x90 ? exc_invalid_op+0x13/0x60 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x16/0x20 ? iommu_dma_unmap_page+0x79/0x90 dma_unmap_page_attrs+0xe6/0x290 mlx5_free_priv_descs+0xb0/0xe0 [mlx5_ib] __mlx5_ib_dereg_mr+0x37e/0x520 [mlx5_ib] ? _raw_spin_unlock_irq+0x24/0x40 ? wait_for_completion+0xfe/0x130 ? rdma_restrack_put+0x63/0xe0 [ib_core] ib_dereg_mr_user+0x5f/0x120 [ib_core] ? lock_release+0xc6/0x280 destroy_hw_idr_uobject+0x1d/0x60 [ib_uverbs] uverbs_destroy_uobject+0x58/0x1d0 [ib_uverbs] uobj_destroy+0x3f/0x70 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_cmd_verbs+0x3e4/0xbb0 [ib_uverbs] ? __pfx_uverbs_destroy_def_handler+0x10/0x10 [ib_uverbs] ? lock_acquire+0xc1/0x2f0 ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0x116/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? lock_release+0xc6/0x280 ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xe7/0x170 [ib_uverbs] ? ib_uverbs_ioctl+0xcb/0x170 [ib_uverbs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x1b0/0xa70 do_syscall_64+0x6b/0x140 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e RIP: 0033:0x7f537adaf17b Code: 0f 1e fa 48 8b 05 1d ad 0c 00 64 c7 00 26 00 00 00 48 c7 c0 ff ff ff ff c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa b8 10 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d ed ac 0c 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007ffff218f0b8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007ffff218f1d8 RCX: 00007f537adaf17b RDX: 00007ffff218f1c0 RSI: 00000000c0181b01 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007ffff218f1a0 R08: 00007f537aa8d010 R09: 0000561ee2e4f270 R10: 00007f537aace3a8 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00007ffff218f190 R13: 000000000000001c R14: 0000561ee2e4d7c0 R15: 00007ffff218f450 </TASK>
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/mr.c
- What this is
- MELLANOX MLX5 IB driverMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/infiniband/hw/mlx5/ · linux-rdma@vger.kernel.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- mlx5_ib
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_INFINIBAND|CONFIG_MLX5_INFINIBAND' /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w mlx5_ibPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.
- bookwormm
- trixieMnot built on armel/rpi
- forky, sidm
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_INFINIBAND, CONFIG_MLX5_INFINIBAND
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2025-03-27 (19 months ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.19%, higher than 8.0% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/infiniband
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 5.13 | 6.12.18 | 0bd34bdd468e |
| 5.13 | 6.13.6 | f1298cad47ae |
| 5.13 | 6.14 | abc7b3f1f056 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2025-21888, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.