{"cve":"CVE-2025-21991","nvd":{"published":"2025-04-02T13:15:43.670","modified":"2026-06-17T08:44:47.257","status":"Modified","description":"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nx86/microcode/AMD: Fix out-of-bounds on systems with CPU-less NUMA nodes\n\nCurrently, load_microcode_amd() iterates over all NUMA nodes, retrieves their\nCPU masks and unconditionally accesses per-CPU data for the first CPU of each\nmask.\n\nAccording to Documentation/admin-guide/mm/numaperf.rst:\n\n  \"Some memory may share the same node as a CPU, and others are provided as\n  memory only nodes.\"\n\nTherefore, some node CPU masks may be empty and wouldn't have a \"first CPU\".\n\nOn a machine with far memory (and therefore CPU-less NUMA nodes):\n- cpumask_of_node(nid) is 0\n- cpumask_first(0) is CONFIG_NR_CPUS\n- cpu_data(CONFIG_NR_CPUS) accesses the cpu_info per-CPU array at an\n  index that is 1 out of bounds\n\nThis does not have any security implications since flashing microcode is\na privileged operation but I believe this has reliability implications by\npotentially corrupting memory while flashing a microcode update.\n\nWhen booting with CONFIG_UBSAN_BOUNDS=y on an AMD machine that flashes\na microcode update. I get the following splat:\n\n  UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in arch/x86/kernel/cpu/microcode/amd.c:X:Y\n  index 512 is out of range for type 'unsigned long[512]'\n  [...]\n  Call Trace:\n   dump_stack\n   __ubsan_handle_out_of_bounds\n   load_microcode_amd\n   request_microcode_amd\n   reload_store\n   kernfs_fop_write_iter\n   vfs_write\n   ksys_write\n   do_syscall_64\n   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe\n\nChange the loop to go over only NUMA nodes which have CPUs before determining\nwhether the first CPU on the respective node needs microcode update.\n\n  [ bp: Massage commit message, fix typo. ]","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","score":7.8},"cwes":["CWE-129"],"references":["https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/18b5d857c6496b78ead2fd10001b81ae32d30cac","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/488ffc0cac38f203979f83634236ee53251ce593","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ac295dfccb5b015493f86694fa13a0dde4d3665","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/985a536e04bbfffb1770df43c6470f635a6b1073","https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d509c4731090ebd9bbdb72c70a2d70003ae81f4f"],"products":["linux:linux_kernel"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T22:00:57.946988208+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2025-21991","score":0.00225,"percentile":0.13176,"date":"2026-11-01"},"kev":null,"osv":[],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}