Linux Kernel up to 6.13.0 run_job null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.177/6.1.127/6.6.74/6.12.11/6.13.0. This affects the function run_job. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2025-21688. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.177/6.1.127/6.6.74/6.12.11/6.13.0. This issue affects the function run_job. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/v3d: Assign job pointer to NULL before signaling the fence In commit e4b5ccd392b9 ("drm/v3d: Ensure job pointer is set to NULL after job completion"), we introduced a change to assign the job pointer to NULL after completing a job, indicating job completion. However, this approach created a race condition between the DRM scheduler workqueue and the IRQ execution thread. As soon as the fence is signaled in the IRQ execution thread, a new job starts to be executed. This results in a race condition where the IRQ execution thread sets the job pointer to NULL simultaneously as the `run_job()` function assigns a new job to the pointer. This race condition can lead to a NULL pointer dereference if the IRQ execution thread sets the job pointer to NULL after `run_job()` assigns it to the new job. When the new job completes and the GPU emits an interrupt, `v3d_irq()` is triggered, potentially causing a crash. [ 466.310099] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 00000000000000c0 [ 466.318928] Mem abort info: [ 466.321723] ESR = 0x0000000096000005 [ 466.325479] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 466.330807] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 466.333864] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 466.337010] FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault [ 466.341900] Data abort info: [ 466.344783] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000005, ISS2 = 0x00000000 [ 466.350285] CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 [ 466.355350] GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 [ 466.360677] user pgtable: 4k pages, 39-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000089772000 [ 466.367140] [00000000000000c0] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000, pud=0000000000000000 [ 466.375875] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000005 [#1] PREEMPT SMP [ 466.382163] Modules linked in: rfcomm snd_seq_dummy snd_hrtimer snd_seq snd_seq_device algif_hash algif_skcipher af_alg bnep binfmt_misc vc4 snd_soc_hdmi_codec drm_display_helper cec brcmfmac_wcc spidev rpivid_hevc(C) drm_client_lib brcmfmac hci_uart drm_dma_helper pisp_be btbcm brcmutil snd_soc_core aes_ce_blk v4l2_mem2mem bluetooth aes_ce_cipher snd_compress videobuf2_dma_contig ghash_ce cfg80211 gf128mul snd_pcm_dmaengine videobuf2_memops ecdh_generic sha2_ce ecc videobuf2_v4l2 snd_pcm v3d sha256_arm64 rfkill videodev snd_timer sha1_ce libaes gpu_sched snd videobuf2_common sha1_generic drm_shmem_helper mc rp1_pio drm_kms_helper raspberrypi_hwmon spi_bcm2835 gpio_keys i2c_brcmstb rp1 raspberrypi_gpiomem rp1_mailbox rp1_adc nvmem_rmem uio_pdrv_genirq uio i2c_dev drm ledtrig_pattern drm_panel_orientation_quirks backlight fuse dm_mod ip_tables x_tables ipv6 [ 466.458429] CPU: 0 UID: 1000 PID: 2008 Comm: chromium Tainted: G C 6.13.0-v8+ #18 [ 466.467336] Tainted: [C]=CRAP [ 466.470306] Hardware name: Raspberry Pi 5 Model B Rev 1.0 (DT) [ 466.476157] pstate: 404000c9 (nZcv daIF +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 466.483143] pc : v3d_irq+0x118/0x2e0 [v3d] [ 466.487258] lr : __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x60/0x228 [ 466.492327] sp : ffffffc080003ea0 [ 466.495646] x29: ffffffc080003ea0 x28: ffffff80c0c94200 x27: 0000000000000000 [ 466.502807] x26: ffffffd08dd81d7b x25: ffffff80c0c94200 x24: ffffff8003bdc200 [ 466.509969] x23: 0000000000000001 x22: 00000000000000a7 x21: 0000000000000000 [ 466.517130] x20: ffffff8041bb0000 x19: 0000000000000001 x18: 0000000000000000 [ 466.524291] x17: ffffffafadfb0000 x16: ffffffc080000000 x15: 0000000000000000 [ 466.531452] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000 [ 466.538613] x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : ffffffd08c527eb0 [ 466.545777] x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 [ 466.552941] x5 : ffffffd08c4100d0 x4 : ffffffafadfb0000 x3 : ffffffc080003f70 [ 466.560102] x2 : ffffffc0829e8058 x1 : 0000000000000001 x0 : 0000000000000000 [ 466.567263] Call trace: [ 466.569711] v3d_irq+0x118/0x2e0 [v3d] (P) [ 466. ---truncated---

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-21688 since 12/29/2024. The exploitation is known to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 216985 (Debian dla-4076 : linux-config-6.1 - security update), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.15.178, 6.1.128, 6.6.75, 6.12.12, 6.13.1 or 6.14-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 9793206fbf5293534c3a79d78f196e2cbb48c22d/1f66a3a1a516e4d545906916b3f3c8d1c5e909e6/6cfafcad46e95351c477da0ae7e3acb8f7550ada/a9401cd5d1bb5a0b8d2bef09623ca43551cd6e8a/431fb709db434565b5e7cee82a11bd681a794fd3/01a7e3a43ee2e6607169a75889412344c10b37fd/3059e7aaa280daea57bb069fbc65225e1bb95014/6e64d6b3a3c39655de56682ec83e894978d23412 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (216985), EUVD (EUVD-2025-2637) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-0309). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Dell NetWorker
• Dell Avamar
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.15.177
• 6.0
• 6.1
• 6.1.127
• 6.2
• 6.3
• 6.4
• 6.5
• 6.6
• 6.6.0
• 6.6.1
• 6.6.2
• 6.6.3
• 6.6.4
• 6.6.5
• 6.6.6
• 6.6.7
• 6.6.8
• 6.6.9
• 6.6.10
• 6.6.11
• 6.6.12
• 6.6.13
• 6.6.14
• 6.6.15
• 6.6.16
• 6.6.17
• 6.6.18
• 6.6.19
• 6.6.20
• 6.6.21
• 6.6.22
• 6.6.23
• 6.6.24
• 6.6.25
• 6.6.26
• 6.6.27
• 6.6.28
• 6.6.29
• 6.6.30
• 6.6.31
• 6.6.32
• 6.6.33
• 6.6.34
• 6.6.35
• 6.6.36
• 6.6.37
• 6.6.38
• 6.6.39
• 6.6.40
• 6.6.41
• 6.6.42
• 6.6.43
• 6.6.44
• 6.6.45
• 6.6.46
• 6.6.47
• 6.6.48
• 6.6.49
• 6.6.50
• 6.6.51
• 6.6.52
• 6.6.53
• 6.6.54
• 6.6.55
• 6.6.56
• 6.6.57
• 6.6.58
• 6.6.59
• 6.6.60
• 6.6.61
• 6.6.62
• 6.6.63
• 6.6.64
• 6.6.65
• 6.6.66
• 6.6.67
• 6.6.68
• 6.6.69
• 6.6.70
• 6.6.71
• 6.6.72
• 6.6.73
• 6.6.74
• 6.7
• 6.8
• 6.9
• 6.10
• 6.11
• 6.12
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.13.0

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

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CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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