CVE-2025-21899
MEDIUMDescription
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.
How to fix
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 9% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-21758 | High | 7.5 | 92% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-21547 | High | 7.5 | 88% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2014-3470 | Medium | 4.3 | 86% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-44224 | High | 8.2 | 82% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2016-0742 | High | 7.5 | 82% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2009-1386 | Medium | 5.0 | 80% | - | Fix |
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Start freeThis product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-11-03.