Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-21897)

Summary

Vulnerability in Kernel (CVE-2025-21897). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Mitigation: upgrade to 6.12.18, 6.13.6 or later.

Original description

The description as published by the source.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

sched_ext: Fix pick_task_scx() picking non-queued tasks when it's called without balance()

a6250aa251ea ("sched_ext: Handle cases where pick_task_scx() is called
without preceding balance_scx()") added a workaround to handle the cases
where pick_task_scx() is called without prececing balance_scx() which is due
to a fair class bug where pick_taks_fair() may return NULL after a true
return from balance_fair().

The workaround detects when pick_task_scx() is called without preceding
balance_scx() and emulates SCX_RQ_BAL_KEEP and triggers kicking to avoid
stalling. Unfortunately, the workaround code was testing whether @prev was
on SCX to decide whether to keep the task running. This is incorrect as the
task may be on SCX but no longer runnable.

This could lead to a non-runnable task to be returned from pick_task_scx()
which cause interesting confusions and failures. e.g. A common failure mode
is the task ending up with (!on_rq && on_cpu) state which can cause
potential wakers to busy loop, which can easily lead to deadlocks.

Fix it by testing whether @prev has SCX_TASK_QUEUED set. This makes
@prev_on_scx only used in one place. Open code the usage and improve the
comment while at it.

Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD OSV

Auto-generated summary

Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.

A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-21897 has been found in Kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade Kernel to 6.12.18, 6.13.6 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Kernel CVE-2025-21897" on the vendor's site.

CVE-2025-21897 (Kernel)
Patched: 6.12.18, 6.13.6 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.

❓ What is the problem

A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Kernel.

📍 Affected scope

Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Kernel.

🔥 Severity

Severity: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.

🔧 How to fix

Update to 6.12.18, 6.13.6.

🛡️ Workaround

Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.

🔍 Detection

Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'Kernel' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.

Response actions

Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order

1
Identify exposure identify
```
grep -r 'Kernel' . | grep -v node_modules
```
リポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で Kernel を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。
2
Apply patch patch
```
Upgrade Kernel to 6.12.18, 6.13.6
```
ステージング環境で 6.12.18, 6.13.6 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
3
Post-deployment verification verify
```
Confirm patched version is live in production
```
パッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。

Affected packages

Linux Kernel

[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.12.0"},{"fixed":"6.12.18"}]},{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"6.13.0"},{"fixed":"6.13.6"}]}]

Fix status by distribution

Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE

BellSoft Alpaquita BELL-CVE-2025-21897 linux-lts Fixed in: 6.12.41-r0
Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21897 linux Fixed in: 6.12.19-1