Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21777

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.16 / 6.13.4 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: ring-buffer: Validate the persistent meta data subbuf array The meta data for a mapped ring buffer contains an array of indexes of all the subbuffers. The first entry is the reader page, and the rest of the entries lay out the order of the subbuffers in how the ring buffer link list is to be created. The validator currently makes sure that all the entries are within the range of 0 and nr_subbufs. But it does not check if there are any duplicates. While working on the ring buffer, I corrupted this array, where I added duplicates. The validator did not catch it and created the ring buffer link list on top of it. Luckily, the corruption was only that the reader page was also in the writer path and only presented corrupted data but did not crash the kernel. But if there were duplicates in the writer side, then it could corrupt the ring buffer link list and cause a crash. Create a bitmask array with the size of the number of subbuffers. Then clear it. When walking through the subbuf array checking to see if the entries are within the range, test if its bit is already set in the subbuf_mask. If it is, then there is duplicates and fail the validation. If not, set the corresponding bit and continue.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 6.12, < 6.12.16>= 6.13, < 6.13.4= 6.14

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 6.12.16 / 6.13.4 or later
Fixed in 6.12.166.13.4
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.12.16, 6.13.4, or 6.14.x (latest stable)

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine the available kernel packages for your distribution using your package manager (e.g., 'apt list --upgradable', 'dnf list updates', 'yum list updates')
  3. Update the package repository metadata
  4. Install the fixed kernel version (6.12.16, 6.13.4, or the latest 6.14.x) using your distribution's package manager
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel using 'sudo reboot'
  6. Verify the fix is applied by running 'uname -r' and confirming the version is >= the fixed release
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuilding third-party kernel modules; ensure compatible drivers are available before rebooting

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 $1,600. 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-2025-21777 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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