CVE-2025-21788Network attack vector

Remote denial of service via rejected XDP packets

Published Feb 27, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026

Memory leak in the Linux kernel AM65 CPSW Ethernet driver allows remote attackers to exhaust memory with packets rejected by an XDP program. The receive path calls am65_cpsw_build_skb before evaluating the XDP result, then fails to free that allocation when the result is not XDP_PASS. Exposure requires the TI AM65 CPSW driver and an attached XDP program that rejects traffic; repeated packets can cause OOM kills, hangs, and service loss.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.49%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in the Linux kernel AM65 CPSW Ethernet driver allows remote attackers to exhaust memory with packets rejected by an XDP program. The receive path calls am65_cpsw_build_skb before evaluating the XDP result, then fails to free that allocation when the result is not XDP_PASS. Exposure requires the TI AM65 CPSW driver and an attached XDP program that rejects traffic; repeated packets can cause OOM kills, hangs, and service loss.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-21788
Published
Feb 27, 2025
Updated
Aug 5, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499.001
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 27, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.10
  2. Affected versionversion=8acacc40f7337527ff84cd901ed2ef0a2b95b2b6 <1bba1d042107167164a0ae3a843fdf650ab005d7
  3. Affected versionversion=8acacc40f7337527ff84cd901ed2ef0a2b95b2b6 <5db843258de1e4e6b1ef1cbd1797923c9e3de548
  4. Affected versionversion=8acacc40f7337527ff84cd901ed2ef0a2b95b2b6 <dc11f049612b9d926aca2e55f8dc9d82850d0da3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.10; version=8acacc40f7337527ff84cd901ed2ef0a2b95b2b6 <1bba1d042107167164a0ae3a843fdf650ab005d7; version=8acacc40f7337527ff84cd901ed2ef0a2b95b2b6 <5db843258de1e4e6b1ef1cbd1797923c9e3de548; version=8acacc40f7337527ff84cd901ed2ef0a2b95b2b6 <dc11f049612b9d926aca2e55f8dc9d82850d0da3

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.5Linux kernel CNACVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499.001Endpoint Denial of Service: OS Exhaustion Flood

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

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