Answer in brief
CVE-2025-21884 records a High severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in net: better track kernel sockets lifetime. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 7.8. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Product | Affected versions | Fixed versions |
|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | Not reported | Not reported |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | Not reported | Not reported |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | Not reported | Not reported |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | Not reported | Not reported |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | Not reported | Not reported |
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | >=0cafd77dcd032d1687efaba5598cf07bce85997f <2668e038800b946d269f96ec1b258c01930a242c || >=0cafd77dcd032d1687efaba5598cf07bce85997f <4ceb0bd4ffd009821b585ce6a8033b12b59fb5fb || >=0cafd77dcd032d1687efaba5598cf07bce85997f <c31a732fac46b00b95b78fcc9c37cb48dd6f2e0c || >=0cafd77dcd032d1687efaba5598cf07bce85997f <5c70eb5c593d64d93b178905da215a9fd288a4b5 | 2668e038800b946d269f96ec1b258c01930a242c, 4ceb0bd4ffd009821b585ce6a8033b12b59fb5fb, c31a732fac46b00b95b78fcc9c37cb48dd6f2e0c, 5c70eb5c593d64d93b178905da215a9fd288a4b5 |
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | 6.2 | Not reported |
Published upstream
Mar 27, 2025
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Oct 15, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 5, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: better track kernel sockets lifetime While kernel sockets are dismantled during pernet_operations->exit(), their freeing can be delayed by any tx packets still held in qdisc or device queues, due to skb_set_owner_w() prior calls. This then trigger the following warning from ref_tracker_dir_exit() [1] To fix this, make sure that kernel sockets own a reference on net->passive. Add sk_net_refcnt_upgrade() helper, used whenever a kernel socket is converted to a refcounted one. [1] [ 136.263918][ T35] ref_tracker: net notrefcnt@ffff8880638f01e0 has 1/2 users at [ 136.263918][ T35] sk_alloc+0x2b3/0x370 [ 136.263918][ T35] inet6_create+0x6ce/0x10f0 [ 136.263918][ T35] __sock_create+0x4c0/0xa30 [ 136.263918][ T35] inet_ctl_sock_create+0xc2/0x250 [ 136.263918][ T35] igmp6_net_init+0x39/0x390 [ 136.263918][ T35] ops_init+0x31e/0x590 [ 136.263918][ T35] setup_net+0x287/0x9e0 [ 136.263918][ T35] copy_net_ns+0x33f/0x570 [ 136.263918][ T35] create_new_namespaces+0x425/0x7b0 [ 136.263918][ T35] unshare_nsproxy_namespaces+0x124/0x180 [ 136.263918][ T35] ksys_unshare+0x57d/0xa70 [ 136.263918][ T35] __x64_sys_unshare+0x38/0x40 [ 136.263918][ T35] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 [ 136.263918][ T35] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [ 136.263918][ T35] [ 136.343488][ T35] ref_tracker: net notrefcnt@ffff8880638f01e0 has 1/2 users at [ 136.343488][ T35] sk_alloc+0x2b3/0x370 [ 136.343488][ T35] inet6_create+0x6ce/0x10f0 [ 136.343488][ T35] __sock_create+0x4c0/0xa30 [ 136.343488][ T35] inet_ctl_sock_create+0xc2/0x250 [ 136.343488][ T35] ndisc_net_init+0xa7/0x2b0 [ 136.343488][ T35] ops_init+0x31e/0x590 [ 136.343488][ T35] setup_net+0x287/0x9e0 [ 136.343488][ T35] copy_net_ns+0x33f/0x570 [ 136.343488][ T35] create_new_namespaces+0x425/0x7b0 [ 136.343488][ T35] unshare_nsproxy_namespaces+0x124/0x180 [ 136.343488][ T35] ksys_unshare+0x57d/0xa70 [ 136.343488][ T35] __x64_sys_unshare+0x38/0x40 [ 136.343488][ T35] do_syscall_64+0xf3/0x230 [ 136.343488][ T35] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.