CVE-2025-21844

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

smb: client: Add check for next_buffer in receive_encrypted_standard()

Add check for the return value of cifs_buf_get() and cifs_small_buf_get() in receive_encrypted_standard() to prevent null pointer dereference.

This vulnerability is rated Moderate rather than Low because a local attacker or malicious server interaction under low-memory conditions can induce a kernel panic, resulting in a denial of service. The issue affects systems actively utilizing the kernel SMB client with transport encryption turned on when handling inbound encrypted traffic. Systems that do not mount remote SMB shares or that utilize unencrypted sessions do not exercise the vulnerable code path. The failure state is limited to an availability impact without compromising system confidentiality or data integrity.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.