Distribution advisory
This page covers CVE-2025-21090 as tracked by Ubuntu, for the package intel-microcode. The fix is available in version 3.20250812.0ubuntu0.25.10.1; earlier versions remain affected.
How this vulnerability can be exploited
This issue can be reached with physical access to the device, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.
CVSS metrics in full
The score comes from this vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:P/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- Attack vector: Physical — the attacker has to touch the device.
- Attack complexity: Low — the attack works reliably, with no preparation.
- Attack requirements: Present — the target has to be in a particular state for the attack to work.
- Privileges required: Low — an ordinary user account is enough.
- User interaction: None — nobody has to be tricked into anything.
- Confidentiality impact: None.
- Integrity impact: None.
- Availability impact: High — total loss, or loss the attacker controls.
Weakness class
UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21090 is classified as CWE-771: Missing Reference to Active Allocated Resource. The product does not properly maintain a reference to a resource that has been allocated, which prevents the resource from being reclaimed.
Affected software
UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21090 is recorded against 1 package.
- intel-microcode (fixed in 3.20250812.0ubuntu0.25.10.1)
Timeline and source
Published on 12 August 2025 and last revised on 4 February 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.
References
ubuntu.com (Report)
www.cve.org (Report)
github.com (Report)
www.intel.com (Report)
ubuntu.com (Advisory)
Other advisories for this package
intel-microcode has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:
Same weakness in other software
These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-771: Missing Reference to Active Allocated Resource) in other software:
