Microsoft security update for CVE-2025-21693
🔗 CVE IDs covered (1)
📋 Microsoft's advisory
EchelonGraph does not copy Microsoft's advisory page: its FAQ and remediation text are not shown here. Read the advisory on https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21693. This page also shows what EchelonGraph holds for CVE-2025-21693, with the description from its CVE record, which the CVE Numbering Authority that assigned the CVE wrote: for a CVE Microsoft assigned, often in the words of Microsoft's own advisory.
🎯 Affected products27
- azl3 kernel 6.6.104.2-4 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.112.1-2 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.117.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.119.3-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.119.3-3 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.121.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.126.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.130.1-3 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.134.1-2 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.137.1-2 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.138.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.139.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.141.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.143.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.144.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.145.2-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.150.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.152.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.157.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.159.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.161.1-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.96.2-1 on Azure Linux 3.0
- azl3 kernel 6.6.96.2-2 on Azure Linux 3.0
- cbl2 kernel 5.15.186.1-1 on CBL Mariner 2.0
- cbl2 kernel 5.15.200.1-1 on CBL Mariner 2.0
- cbl2 kernel 5.15.202.1-1 on CBL Mariner 2.0
- cbl2 kernel 5.15.202.1-1 on CBL-Mariner 2.0
✅ Updates Microsoft lists: 2 updates
2 rows: one per KB article or update, update type and fixed build. Their details are on Microsoft's advisory.
| KB article | Update | Fixed build |
|---|---|---|
| — | Security Update | — |
| — | Security Update | — |
🧭 EchelonGraph on CVE-2025-21693
- EchelonGraph score
- 7.8 HIGH
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Fix status
- A fix is available — apply it.
Description from the CVE record (CVE.org), as published by its numbering authority
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: zswap: properly synchronize freeing resources during CPU hotunplug In zswap_compress() and zswap_decompress(), the per-CPU acomp_ctx of the current CPU at the beginning of the operation is retrieved and used throughout. However, since neither preemption nor migration are disabled, it is possible that the operation continues on a different CPU. If the original CPU is hotunplugged while the acomp_ctx is still in use, we run into a UAF bug as some of the resources attached to the acomp_ctx are freed during hotunplug in zswap_cpu_comp_dead() (i.e. acomp_ctx.buffer, acomp_ctx.req, or acomp_ctx.acomp). The problem was introduced in commit 1ec3b5fe6eec ("mm/zswap: move to use crypto_acomp API for hardware acceleration") when the switch to the crypto_acomp API was made. Prior to that, the per-CPU crypto_comp was retrieved using get_cpu_ptr() which disables preemption and makes sure the CPU cannot go away from under us. Preemption cannot be disabled with the crypto_acomp API as a sleepable context is needed. Use the acomp_ctx.mutex to synchronize CPU hotplug callbacks allocating and freeing resources with compression/decompression paths. Make sure that acomp_ctx.req is NULL when the resources are freed. In the compression/decompression paths, check if acomp_ctx.req is NULL after acquiring the mutex (meaning the CPU was offlined) and retry on the new CPU. The initialization of acomp_ctx.mutex is moved from the CPU hotplug callback to the pool initialization where it belongs (where the mutex is allocated). In addition to adding clarity, this makes sure that CPU hotplug cannot reinitialize a mutex that is already locked by compression/decompression. Previously a fix was attempted by holding cpus_read_lock() [1]. This would have caused a potential deadlock as it is possible for code already holding the lock to fall into reclaim and enter zswap (causing a deadlock). A fix was also attempted using SRCU for synchronization, but Johannes pointed out that synchronize_srcu() cannot be used in CPU hotplug notifiers [2]. Alternative fixes that were considered/attempted and could have worked: - Refcounting the per-CPU acomp_ctx. This involves complexity in handling the race between the refcount dropping to zero in zswap_[de]compress() and the refcount being re-initialized when the CPU is onlined. - Disabling migration before getting the per-CPU acomp_ctx [3], but that's discouraged and is a much bigger hammer than needed, and could result in subtle performance issues. [1]https://lkml.kernel.org/[email protected]/ [2]https://lkml.kernel.org/[email protected]/ [3]https://lkml.kernel.org/[email protected]/ [[email protected]: remove comment]
Published by kernel.org, the CVE Numbering Authority that assigned CVE-2025-21693, in its CVE record at CVE.org; reused under the CVE Program's Terms of Use (its licence and MITRE's copyright notice are in our Terms of Service).