CVE-2025-21920

vlan: enforce underlying device type

Published Apr 1, 2025 CVSS 3.1 · 7.1 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

vlan: enforce underlying device type

Currently, VLAN devices can be created on top of non-ethernet devices.

Besides the fact that it doesn't make much sense, this also causes a
bug which leaks the address of a kernel function to usermode.

When creating a VLAN device, we initialize GARP (garp_init_applicant)
and MRP (mrp_init_applicant) for the underlying device.

As part of the initialization process, we add the multicast address of
each applicant to the underlying device, by calling dev_mc_add.

__dev_mc_add uses dev->addr_len to determine the length of the new
multicast address.

This causes an out-of-bounds read if dev->addr_len is greater than 6,
since the multicast addresses provided by GARP and MRP are only 6
bytes long.

This behaviour can be reproduced using the following commands:

ip tunnel add gretest mode ip6gre local ::1 remote ::2 dev lo
ip l set up dev gretest
ip link add link gretest name vlantest type vlan id 100

Then, the following command will display the address of garp_pdu_rcv:

ip maddr show | grep 01:80:c2:00:00:21

Fix the bug by enforcing the type of the underlying device during VLAN
device initialization.

Analysis

No analysis available yet

Remediation

No remediation available yet

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4178-1 linux security update
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4193-1 linux-6.1 security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-5900-1 linux security update
EUVD EUVD EUVD-2025-9401 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vlan: enforce underlying device type Currently, VLAN devices can be created on top of non-ethernet devices. Besides the fact that it doesn't make much sense, this also causes a bug which leaks the address of a kernel function to usermode. When creating a VLAN device, we initialize GARP (garp_init_applicant) and MRP (mrp_init_applicant) for the underlying device. As part of the initialization process, we add the multicast address of each applicant to the underlying device, by calling dev_mc_add. __dev_mc_add uses dev->addr_len to determine the length of the new multicast address. This causes an out-of-bounds read if dev->addr_len is greater than 6, since the multicast addresses provided by GARP and MRP are only 6 bytes long. This behaviour can be reproduced using the following commands: ip tunnel add gretest mode ip6gre local ::1 remote ::2 dev lo ip l set up dev gretest ip link add link gretest name vlantest type vlan id 100 Then, the following command will display the address of garp_pdu_rcv: ip maddr show | grep 01:80:c2:00:00:21 Fix the bug by enforcing the type of the underlying device during VLAN device initialization.
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-2 Linux kernel (FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-3 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-4 Linux kernel (Real-time) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-5 Linux kernel (Azure FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-6 Linux kernel (AWS FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-7 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7510-8 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7511-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7511-2 Linux kernel (GCP FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7511-3 Linux kernel (GKE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7512-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-2 Linux kernel (GCP FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-3 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-4 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-5 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-6 Linux kernel (IBM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-7 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-8 Linux kernel (FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7516-9 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7517-1 Linux kernel (Xilinx ZynqMP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7517-2 Linux kernel (IBM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7517-3 Linux kernel (BlueField) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7518-1 Linux kernel (Azure FIPS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7539-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7540-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7593-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7602-1 Linux kernel (Xilinx ZynqMP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7605-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7605-2 Linux kernel (Low Latency) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7606-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7628-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7640-1 Linux kernel (IoT) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7764-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7764-2 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7765-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7766-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7767-1 Linux kernel (Real-time) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7767-2 Linux kernel (Real-time) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7779-1 Linux kernel (IBM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7790-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7800-1 Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi Real-time) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7801-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7802-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7801-2 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7809-1 Linux kernel (Azure, N-Series) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7801-3 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics threat_severity

Low

threat_severity

Moderate

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Weaknesses CWE-125
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vlan: enforce underlying device type Currently, VLAN devices can be created on top of non-ethernet devices. Besides the fact that it doesn't make much sense, this also causes a bug which leaks the address of a kernel function to usermode. When creating a VLAN device, we initialize GARP (garp_init_applicant) and MRP (mrp_init_applicant) for the underlying device. As part of the initialization process, we add the multicast address of each applicant to the underlying device, by calling dev_mc_add. __dev_mc_add uses dev->addr_len to determine the length of the new multicast address. This causes an out-of-bounds read if dev->addr_len is greater than 6, since the multicast addresses provided by GARP and MRP are only 6 bytes long. This behaviour can be reproduced using the following commands: ip tunnel add gretest mode ip6gre local ::1 remote ::2 dev lo ip l set up dev gretest ip link add link gretest name vlantest type vlan id 100 Then, the following command will display the address of garp_pdu_rcv: ip maddr show | grep 01:80:c2:00:00:21 Fix the bug by enforcing the type of the underlying device during VLAN device initialization.
Title vlan: enforce underlying device type
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
May 11, 2026, 9:09 PM
Reserved
Dec 29, 2024, 8:45 AM
Status
Modified
Published
Apr 1, 2025, 4:15 PM
Modified
Jun 17, 2026, 8:44 AM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Apr 1, 2025, 12:00 AM