CVE-2025-21881
Vulnerability Scoring
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Published on: 27 Mar 2025, 15:15 UTC
CVSS Release:
CVE-2025-21881: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: uprobes: Reject the shared zeropage in uprobe_write_opcode() We triggered the following crash in syzkaller tests: BUG: Bad page state in process syz.7.38 pfn:1eff3 page: refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x1eff3 flags: 0x3fffff00004004(referenced|reserved|node=0|zone=1|lastcpupid=0x1fffff) raw: 003fffff00004004 ffffe6c6c07bfcc8 ffffe6c6c07bfcc8 0000000000000000 raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 00000000fffffffe 0000000000000000 page dumped because: PAGE_FLAGS_CHECK_AT_FREE flag(s) set Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.13.0-1ubuntu1.1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x32/0x50 bad_page+0x69/0xf0 free_unref_page_prepare+0x401/0x500 free_unref_page+0x6d/0x1b0 uprobe_write_opcode+0x460/0x8e0 install_breakpoint.part.0+0x51/0x80 register_for_each_vma+0x1d9/0x2b0 __uprobe_register+0x245/0x300 bpf_uprobe_multi_link_attach+0x29b/0x4f0 link_create+0x1e2/0x280 __sys_bpf+0x75f/0xac0 __x64_sys_bpf+0x1a/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x56/0x100 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x78/0xe2 BUG: Bad rss-counter state mm:00000000452453e0 type:MM_FILEPAGES val:-1 The following syzkaller test case can be used to reproduce: r2 = creat(&(0x7f0000000000)='./file0\x00', 0x8) write$nbd(r2, &(0x7f0000000580)=ANY=[], 0x10) r4 = openat(0xffffffffffffff9c, &(0x7f0000000040)='./file0\x00', 0x42, 0x0) mmap$IORING_OFF_SQ_RING(&(0x7f0000ffd000/0x3000)=nil, 0x3000, 0x0, 0x12, r4, 0x0) r5 = userfaultfd(0x80801) ioctl$UFFDIO_API(r5, 0xc018aa3f, &(0x7f0000000040)={0xaa, 0x20}) r6 = userfaultfd(0x80801) ioctl$UFFDIO_API(r6, 0xc018aa3f, &(0x7f0000000140)) ioctl$UFFDIO_REGISTER(r6, 0xc020aa00, &(0x7f0000000100)={{&(0x7f0000ffc000/0x4000)=nil, 0x4000}, 0x2}) ioctl$UFFDIO_ZEROPAGE(r5, 0xc020aa04, &(0x7f0000000000)={{&(0x7f0000ffd000/0x1000)=nil, 0x1000}}) r7 = bpf$PROG_LOAD(0x5, &(0x7f0000000140)={0x2, 0x3, &(0x7f0000000200)=ANY=[@ANYBLOB="1800000000120000000000000000000095"], &(0x7f0000000000)='GPL\x00', 0x7, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, '\x00', 0x0, @fallback=0x30, 0xffffffffffffffff, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x10, 0x0, @void, @value}, 0x94) bpf$BPF_LINK_CREATE_XDP(0x1c, &(0x7f0000000040)={r7, 0x0, 0x30, 0x1e, @val=@uprobe_multi={&(0x7f0000000080)='./file0\x00', &(0x7f0000000100)=[0x2], 0x0, 0x0, 0x1}}, 0x40) The cause is that zero pfn is set to the PTE without increasing the RSS count in mfill_atomic_pte_zeropage() and the refcount of zero folio does not increase accordingly. Then, the operation on the same pfn is performed in uprobe_write_opcode()->__replace_page() to unconditional decrease the RSS count and old_folio's refcount. Therefore, two bugs are introduced: 1. The RSS count is incorrect, when process exit, the check_mm() report error "Bad rss-count". 2. The reserved folio (zero folio) is freed when folio->refcount is zero, then free_pages_prepare->free_page_is_bad() report error "Bad page state". There is more, the following warning could also theoretically be triggered: __replace_page() -> ... -> folio_remove_rmap_pte() -> VM_WARN_ON_FOLIO(is_zero_folio(folio), folio) Considering that uprobe hit on the zero folio is a very rare case, just reject zero old folio immediately after get_user_page_vma_remote(). [ mingo: Cleaned up the changelog ]
The exploitability of CVE-2025-21881 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
No exploitability data is available for CVE-2025-21881.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2025-21881, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2025-21881, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
Unknown
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