CVE-2025-21869: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/code-patching: Disable KASAN report during patching via temporary mm Erhard reports the following KASAN hit on Talos II (power9) with kernel 6.13: [ 12.028126] ================================================================== [ 12.028198] BUG: KASAN: user-memory-access in copy_to_kernel_nofault+0x8c/0x1a0 [ 12.028260] Write of size 8 at addr 0000187e458f2000 by task systemd/1 [ 12.028346] CPU: 87 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: systemd Tainted: G T 6.13.0-P9-dirty #3 [ 12.028408] Tainted: [T]=RANDSTRUCT [ 12.028446] Hardware name: T2P9D01 REV 1.01 POWER9 0x4e1202 opal:skiboot-bc106a0 PowerNV [ 12.028500] Call Trace: [ 12.028536] [c000000008dbf3b0] [c000000001656a48] dump_stack_lvl+0xbc/0x110 (unreliable) [ 12.028609] [c000000008dbf3f0] [c0000000006e2fc8] print_report+0x6b0/0x708 [ 12.028666] [c000000008dbf4e0] [c0000000006e2454] kasan_report+0x164/0x300 [ 12.028725] [c000000008dbf600] [c0000000006e54d4] kasan_check_range+0x314/0x370 [ 12.028784] [c000000008dbf640] [c0000000006e6310] __kasan_check_write+0x20/0x40 [ 12.028842] [c000000008dbf660] [c000000000578e8c] copy_to_kernel_nofault+0x8c/0x1a0 [ 12.028902] [c000000008dbf6a0] [c0000000000acfe4] __patch_instructions+0x194/0x210 [ 12.028965] [c000000008dbf6e0] [c0000000000ade80] patch_instructions+0x150/0x590 [ 12.029026] [c000000008dbf7c0] [c0000000001159bc] bpf_arch_text_copy+0x6c/0xe0 [ 12.029085] [c000000008dbf800] [c000000000424250] bpf_jit_binary_pack_finalize+0x40/0xc0 [ 12.029147] [c000000008dbf830] [c000000000115dec] bpf_int_jit_compile+0x3bc/0x930 [ 12.029206] [c000000008dbf990] [c000000000423720] bpf_prog_select_runtime+0x1f0/0x280 [ 12.029266] [c000000008dbfa00] [c000000000434b18] bpf_prog_load+0xbb8/0x1370 [ 12.029324] [c000000008dbfb70] [c000000000436ebc] __sys_bpf+0x5ac/0x2e00 [ 12.029379] [c000000008dbfd00] [c00000000043a228] sys_bpf+0x28/0x40 [ 12.029435] [c000000008dbfd20] [c000000000038eb4] system_call_exception+0x334/0x610 [ 12.029497] [c000000008dbfe50] [c00000000000c270] system_call_vectored_common+0xf0/0x280 [ 12.029561] --- interrupt: 3000 at 0x3fff82f5cfa8 [ 12.029608] NIP: 00003fff82f5cfa8 LR: 00003fff82f5cfa8 CTR: 0000000000000000 [ 12.029660] REGS: c000000008dbfe80 TRAP: 3000 Tainted: G T (6.13.0-P9-dirty) [ 12.029735] MSR: 900000000280f032 <SF,HV,VEC,VSX,EE,PR,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI> CR: 42004848 XER: 00000000 [ 12.029855] IRQMASK: 0 GPR00: 0000000000000169 00003fffdcf789a0 00003fff83067100 0000000000000005 GPR04: 00003fffdcf78a98 0000000000000090 0000000000000000 0000000000000008 GPR08: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 GPR12: 0000000000000000 00003fff836ff7e0 c000000000010678 0000000000000000 GPR16: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 00003fffdcf78f28 00003fffdcf78f90 GPR20: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 00003fffdcf78f80 GPR24: 00003fffdcf78f70 00003fffdcf78d10 00003fff835c7239 00003fffdcf78bd8 GPR28: 00003fffdcf78a98 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 000000011f547580 [ 12.030316] NIP [00003fff82f5cfa8] 0x3fff82f5cfa8 [ 12.030361] LR [00003fff82f5cfa8] 0x3fff82f5cfa8 [ 12.030405] --- interrupt: 3000 [ 12.030444] ================================================================== Commit c28c15b6d28a ("powerpc/code-patching: Use temporary mm for Radix MMU") is inspired from x86 but unlike x86 is doesn't disable KASAN reports during patching. This wasn't a problem at the begining because __patch_mem() is not instrumented. Commit 465cabc97b42 ("powerpc/code-patching: introduce patch_instructions()") use copy_to_kernel_nofault() to copy several instructions at once. But when using temporary mm the destination is not regular kernel memory but a kind of kernel-like memory located in user address space. ---truncated---

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-21869, a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
• Reference
• Reference
• Reference