Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-21977

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.12.20 / 6.13.8 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: fbdev: hyperv_fb: Fix hang in kdump kernel when on Hyper-V Gen 2 VMs Gen 2 Hyper-V VMs boot via EFI and have a standard EFI framebuffer device. When the kdump kernel runs in such a VM, loading the efifb driver may hang because of accessing the framebuffer at the wrong memory address. The scenario occurs when the hyperv_fb driver in the original kernel moves the framebuffer to a different MMIO address because of conflicts with an already-running efifb or simplefb driver. The hyperv_fb driver then informs Hyper-V of the change, which is allowed by the Hyper-V FB VMBus device protocol. However, when the kexec command loads the kdump kernel into crash memory via the kexec_file_load() system call, the system call doesn't know the framebuffer has moved, and it sets up the kdump screen_info using the original framebuffer address. The transition to the kdump kernel does not go through the Hyper-V host, so Hyper-V does not reset the framebuffer address like it would do on a reboot. When efifb tries to run, it accesses a non-existent framebuffer address, which traps to the Hyper-V host. After many such accesses, the Hyper-V host thinks the guest is being malicious, and throttles the guest to the point that it runs very slowly or appears to have hung. When the kdump kernel is loaded into crash memory via the kexec_load() system call, the problem does not occur. In this case, the kexec command builds the screen_info table itself in user space from data returned by the FBIOGET_FSCREENINFO ioctl against /dev/fb0, which gives it the new framebuffer location. This problem was originally reported in 2020 [1], resulting in commit 3cb73bc3fa2a ("hyperv_fb: Update screen_info after removing old framebuffer"). This commit solved the problem by setting orig_video_isVGA to 0, so the kdump kernel was unaware of the EFI framebuffer. The efifb driver did not try to load, and no hang occurred. But in 2024, commit c25a19afb81c ("fbdev/hyperv_fb: Do not clear global screen_info") effectively reverted 3cb73bc3fa2a. Commit c25a19afb81c has no reference to 3cb73bc3fa2a, so perhaps it was done without knowing the implications that were reported with 3cb73bc3fa2a. In any case, as of commit c25a19afb81c, the original problem came back again. Interestingly, the hyperv_drm driver does not have this problem because it never moves the framebuffer. The difference is that the hyperv_drm driver removes any conflicting framebuffers *before* allocating an MMIO address, while the hyperv_fb drivers removes conflicting framebuffers *after* allocating an MMIO address. With the "after" ordering, hyperv_fb may encounter a conflict and move the framebuffer to a different MMIO address. But the conflict is essentially bogus because it is removed a few lines of code later. Rather than fix the problem with the approach from 2020 in commit 3cb73bc3fa2a, instead slightly reorder the steps in hyperv_fb so conflicting framebuffers are removed before allocating an MMIO address. Then the default framebuffer MMIO address should always be available, and there's never any confusion about which framebuffer address the kdump kernel should use -- it's always the original address provided by the Hyper-V host. This approach is already used by the hyperv_drm driver, and is consistent with the usage guidelines at the head of the module with the function aperture_remove_conflicting_devices(). This approach also solves a related minor problem when kexec_load() is used to load the kdump kernel. With current code, unbinding and rebinding the hyperv_fb driver could result in the framebuffer moving back to the default framebuffer address, because on the rebind there are no conflicts. If such a move is done after the kdump kernel is loaded with the new framebuffer address, at kdump time it could again have the wrong address. This problem and fix are described in terms of the kdump kernel, but it can also occur ---truncated---

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:>= 6.8, < 6.12.20>= 6.13, < 6.13.8= 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 6.12.20 / 6.13.8 or later
Fixed in 6.12.206.13.8
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.12.20, 6.13.8, or 6.14.1+

  1. Apply vendor patch commit 2924802d35e00a36b1503a4e786f1926b2fdc1d0 to the hyperv_fb driver source code
  2. The patch reorders the framebuffer conflict removal to occur BEFORE MMIO address allocation rather than after
  3. Rebuild the kernel with the patched hyperv_fb driver
  4. Deploy the updated kernel to Hyper-V Gen 2 VMs that use kdump

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

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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

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