CVE-2025-21899 | tracing: Fix bad hist from corrupting named_triggers list

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Fix bad hist from corrupting named_triggers list The following commands causes a crash: ~# cd /sys/kernel/tracing/events/rcu/rcu_callback ~# echo 'hist:name=bad:keys=common_pid:onmax(bogus).save(common_pid)' > trigger bash: echo: write error: Invalid argument ~# echo 'hist:name=bad:keys=common_pid' > trigger Because the following occurs: event_trigger_write() { trigger_process_regex() { event_hist_trigger_parse() { data = event_trigger_alloc(..); event_trigger_register(.., data) { cmd_ops->reg(.., data, ..) [hist_register_trigger()] { data->ops->init() [event_hist_trigger_init()] { save_named_trigger(name, data) { list_add(&data->named_list, &named_triggers); } } } } ret = create_actions(); (return -EINVAL) if (ret) goto out_unreg; [..] ret = hist_trigger_enable(data, ...) { list_add_tail_rcu(&data->list, &file->triggers); <<<---- SKIPPED!!! (this is important!) [..] out_unreg: event_hist_unregister(.., data) { cmd_ops->unreg(.., data, ..) [hist_unregister_trigger()] { list_for_each_entry(iter, &file->triggers, list) { if (!hist_trigger_match(data, iter, named_data, false)) <- never matches continue; [..] test = iter; } if (test && test->ops->free) <<<-- test is NULL test->ops->free(test) [event_hist_trigger_free()] { [..] if (data->name) del_named_trigger(data) { list_del(&data->named_list); <<<<-- NEVER gets removed! } } } } [..] kfree(data); <<<-- frees item but it is still on list The next time a hist with name is registered, it causes an u-a-f bug and the kernel can crash. Move the code around such that if event_trigger_register() succeeds, the next thing called is hist_trigger_enable() which adds it to the list. A bunch of actions is called if get_named_trigger_data() returns false. But that doesn't need to be called after event_trigger_register(), so it can be moved up, allowing event_trigger_register() to be called just before hist_trigger_enable() keeping them together and allowing the file->triggers to be properly populated.

Published: 2025-04-01 Last update: 2025-11-03 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-21899 is rated Low Risk (24.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-21899

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-10 0.09% 0.02% -0.07%
2 2026-01-26 0.03% 0.09% +0.06%
3 2025-08-28 0.03%

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-21899

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-21899

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-21899

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2025-21899 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (linux, linux-6.1), 6 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-21899
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21899
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-21899/
ubuntu medium CVE-2025-21899 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 150, released 138, not-affected 63, needed 55. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-21899

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-21899

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.17, < 6.1.130 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2, < 6.6.81 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.7, < 6.12.18 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.13.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel 6.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.14:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-21899

cvelogic Threat Intelligence