powerpc/pseries/iommu: Don't unset window if it was never set
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pseries/iommu: Don't unset window if it was never set On pSeries, when user attempts to use the same vfio container used by different iommu group, the spapr_tce_set_window() returns -EPERM and the subsequent cleanup leads to the below crash. Kernel attempted to read user page (308) - exploit attempt? BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000308 Faulting instruction address: 0xc0000000001ce358 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] NIP: c0000000001ce358 LR: c0000000001ce05c CTR: c00000000005add0 <snip> NIP [c0000000001ce358] spapr_tce_unset_window+0x3b8/0x510 LR [c0000000001ce05c] spapr_tce_unset_window+0xbc/0x510 Call Trace: spapr_tce_unset_window+0xbc/0x510 (unreliable) tce_iommu_attach_group+0x24c/0x340 [vfio_iommu_spapr_tce] vfio_container_attach_group+0xec/0x240 [vfio] vfio_group_fops_unl_ioctl+0x548/0xb00 [vfio] sys_ioctl+0x754/0x1580 system_call_exception+0x13c/0x330 system_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec <snip> --- interrupt: 3000 Fix this by having null check for the tbl passed to the spapr_tce_unset_window().
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.13, 6.13.2, 6.14
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-21713
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r24p-j496-7rxg
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2025-21713 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-21713 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r24p-j496-7rxg · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-21713 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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