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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21713

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.13 / 6.13.2 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pseries/iommu: Don't unset window if it was never set On pSeries, when user attempts to use the same vfio container used by different iommu group, the spapr_tce_set_window() returns -EPERM and the subsequent cleanup leads to the below crash. Kernel attempted to read user page (308) - exploit attempt? BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000308 Faulting instruction address: 0xc0000000001ce358 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] NIP: c0000000001ce358 LR: c0000000001ce05c CTR: c00000000005add0 <snip> NIP [c0000000001ce358] spapr_tce_unset_window+0x3b8/0x510 LR [c0000000001ce05c] spapr_tce_unset_window+0xbc/0x510 Call Trace: spapr_tce_unset_window+0xbc/0x510 (unreliable) tce_iommu_attach_group+0x24c/0x340 [vfio_iommu_spapr_tce] vfio_container_attach_group+0xec/0x240 [vfio] vfio_group_fops_unl_ioctl+0x548/0xb00 [vfio] sys_ioctl+0x754/0x1580 system_call_exception+0x13c/0x330 system_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec <snip> --- interrupt: 3000 Fix this by having null check for the tbl passed to the spapr_tce_unset_window().

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 6.11, < 6.12.13>= 6.13, < 6.13.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.12.13 / 6.13.2 or later
Fixed in 6.12.136.13.2
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.12.13 or later for 6.12.x branch; Linux Kernel 6.13.2 or later for 6.13.x branch

  1. 1. Identify systems running affected kernel versions (6.11 through 6.12.12 or 6.13.0 through 6.13.1) using 'uname -r' or package management tools.
  2. 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the kernel upgrade.
  3. 3. For production systems, test the kernel upgrade in a staging environment first to verify compatibility with existing workloads.
  4. 4. Update the kernel package to version 6.12.13 or later (for 6.12.x branch) or 6.13.2 or later (for 6.13.x branch). On Debian/Ubuntu: 'apt update && apt install linux-image-generic'. On RHEL/CentOS: 'yum update kernel'. On SUSE: 'zypper update kernel-default'.
  5. 5. After installation, reboot the systems to load the new kernel: 'systemctl reboot'.
  6. 6. Verify the new kernel version is running with 'uname -r' and confirm it matches a fixed release (>= 6.12.13 or >= 6.13.2).
  7. 7. Test that VFIO functionality works correctly, especially with pSeries IOMMU configurations.
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or specific hardware configurations; always test in non-production first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-21713 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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