Findings

CVE-2025-21889

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Add RCU read lock protection to perf_iterate_ctx() The perf_iterate_ctx() function perfo…

Published Mar 27, 2025 · updated Oct 15, 2026 · linux linux kernel

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Add RCU read lock protection to perf_iterate_ctx() The perf_iterate_ctx() function performs RCU list traversal but currently lacks RCU read lock protection. This causes lockdep warnings when running perf probe with unshare(1) under CONFIG_PROVE_RCU_LIST=y: WARNING: suspicious RCU usage kernel/events/core.c:8168 RCU-list traversed in non-reader section!! Call Trace: lockdep_rcu_suspicious ? perf_event_addr_filters_apply perf_iterate_ctx perf_event_exec begin_new_exec ? load_elf_phdrs load_elf_binary ? lock_acquire ? find_held_lock ? bprm_execve bprm_execve do_execveat_common.isra.0 __x64_sys_execve do_syscall_64 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe This protection was previously present but was removed in commit bd2756811766 ("perf: Rewrite core context handling"). Add back the necessary rcu_read_lock()/rcu_read_unlock() pair around perf_iterate_ctx() call in perf_event_exec(). [ mingo: Use scoped_guard() as suggested by Peter ]

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Mar 27, 2025 · NIST NVD

    Detected

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Add RCU read lock protection to perf_iterate_ctx() The perf_iterate_ctx() function performs RCU list traversal but currently lacks RCU read lock protection. This causes lockdep warnings when running perf probe with unshare(1) under CONFIG_PROVE_RCU_LIST=y: WARNING: suspicious RCU usage kernel/events/core.c:8168 RCU-list

  2. Oct 15, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Updated

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Add RCU read lock protection to perf_iterate_ctx() The perf_iterate_ctx() function performs RCU list traversal but currently lacks RCU read lock protection. This causes lockdep warnings when running perf probe with unshare(1) under CONFIG_PROVE_RCU_LIST=y: WARNING: suspicious RCU usage kernel/events/core.c:8168 RCU-list

Affected

  • cpe linux/linux kernelversion unspecified
  • cpe linux/linux kernel6.14

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2025-21889

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2025-21889

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Add RCU read lock protection to perf_iterate_ctx() The perf_iterate_ctx() function performs RCU list traversal but currently lacks RCU read lock protection. This causes lockdep warnings when running

    nvd.nist.gov

References

CVE-2025-21889 · ZeroDay Findings