CVE-2025-21920
HIGHCVSS VectorNVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
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3DescriptionNVD
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.
AnalysisAI
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. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Technical ContextAI
This vulnerability is classified as Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125), which allows attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries. 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. Affected products include: Linux Linux Kernel.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Validate array indices and buffer lengths. Use memory-safe languages. Enable AddressSanitizer during testing.
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