Kernel warning via invalid DMA unmapping
Published Mar 27, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Improper DMA unmapping in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a kernel warning by deregistering an mlx5 device-memory MR. In mlx5_free_priv_descs(), a device-memory MR without an associated umem follows the ordinary-memory branch, causing dma_unmap_single() to process an address that was never mapped. The path requires local low-privilege access to an mlx5 RDMA device with device memory; the documented consequence is a kernel warning.
Summary
What happened
Improper DMA unmapping in the Linux kernel allows local users to trigger a kernel warning by deregistering an mlx5 device-memory MR. In mlx5_free_priv_descs(), a device-memory MR without an associated umem follows the ordinary-memory branch, causing dma_unmap_single() to process an address that was never mapped. The path requires local low-privilege access to an mlx5 RDMA device with device memory; the documented consequence is a kernel warning.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-21888
- Published
- Mar 27, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 27, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 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.
- Affected versionversion=5.13
- Affected versionversion=f18ec422311767738ef4033b61e91cae07163b22 <0bd34bdd468e93a779c403de3cf7d43ee633b3e0
- Affected versionversion=f18ec422311767738ef4033b61e91cae07163b22 <abc7b3f1f056d69a8f11d6dceecc0c9549ace770
- Affected versionversion=f18ec422311767738ef4033b61e91cae07163b22 <f1298cad47ae29828c5c5be77e733ccfcaef6a7f
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo