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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-71125

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.248 / 5.15.198 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: tracing: Do not register unsupported perf events Synthetic events currently do not have a function to register perf events. This leads to calling the tracepoint register functions with a NULL function pointer which triggers: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: kernel/tracepoint.c:175 at tracepoint_add_func+0x357/0x370, CPU#2: perf/2272 Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 2272 Comm: perf Not tainted 6.18.0-ftest-11964-ge022764176fc-dirty #323 PREEMPTLAZY Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.17.0-debian-1.17.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:tracepoint_add_func+0x357/0x370 Code: 28 9c e8 4c 0b f5 ff eb 0f 4c 89 f7 48 c7 c6 80 4d 28 9c e8 ab 89 f4 ff 31 c0 5b 41 5c 41 5d 41 5e 41 5f 5d c3 cc cc cc cc cc <0f> 0b 49 c7 c6 ea ff ff ff e9 ee fe ff ff 0f 0b e9 f9 fe ff ff 0f RSP: 0018:ffffabc0c44d3c40 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000001 RBX: ffff9380aa9e4060 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 000000000000000a RSI: ffffffff9e1d4a98 RDI: ffff937fcf5fd6c8 RBP: 0000000000000001 R08: 0000000000000007 R09: ffff937fcf5fc780 R10: 0000000000000003 R11: ffffffff9c193910 R12: 000000000000000a R13: ffffffff9e1e5888 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffffabc0c44d3c78 FS: 00007f6202f5f340(0000) GS:ffff93819f00f000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000055d3162281a8 CR3: 0000000106a56003 CR4: 0000000000172ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> tracepoint_probe_register+0x5d/0x90 synth_event_reg+0x3c/0x60 perf_trace_event_init+0x204/0x340 perf_trace_init+0x85/0xd0 perf_tp_event_init+0x2e/0x50 perf_try_init_event+0x6f/0x230 ? perf_event_alloc+0x4bb/0xdc0 perf_event_alloc+0x65a/0xdc0 __se_sys_perf_event_open+0x290/0x9f0 do_syscall_64+0x93/0x7b0 ? entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e ? trace_hardirqs_off+0x53/0xc0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e Instead, have the code return -ENODEV, which doesn't warn and has perf error out with: # perf record -e synthetic:futex_wait Error: The sys_perf_event_open() syscall returned with 19 (No such device) for event (synthetic:futex_wait). "dmesg | grep -i perf" may provide additional information. Ideally perf should support synthetic events, but for now just fix the warning. The support can come later.

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:>= 4.17.1, < 5.10.248>= 5.11, < 5.15.198>= 5.16, < 6.1.160>= 6.2, < 6.6.120>= 6.7, < 6.12.64>= 6.13, < 6.18.3= 4.17= 6.19

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 5.10.248 / 5.15.198 / 6.1.160 or later
Fixed in 5.10.2485.15.1986.1.160
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 5.10.248, 5.15.198, 6.1.160, or 6.6.120 (or later stable release) depending on which release branch you are on

  1. Identify the affected kernel version by running: uname -r
  2. Apply the vendor patch from https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3437c775bf209c674ad66304213b6b3c3b1b3f69, or apply the equivalent fix from a newer stable kernel release that includes this correction
  3. Rebuild the kernel if building from source
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the fix by attempting to create a synthetic event (e.g., perf record -e synthetic:futex_wait) - it should now return an error instead of triggering a kernel warning
  6. Check dmesg to confirm no NULL pointer dereference warnings appear for synthetic perf events
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require rebuild of out-of-tree modules and could introduce regressions in other areas; ensure compatibility with userspace tools and hardware before upgrading

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-2025-71125 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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