# CVE-2025-21657: sched_ext: Replace rq_lock() to raw_spin_rq_lock() in scx_ops_bypass()

> A locking error in the Linux kernel scheduler can trigger warnings and potential instability when bypassing sched_ext, requiring a patch to fix.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 21 Jan 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-21657, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21657, GHSA-79cx-c495-ffvx, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21657

## What is CVE-2025-21657?

CVE-2025-21657 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Jan 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

sched_ext: Replace rq_lock() to raw_spin_rq_lock() in scx_ops_bypass()

scx_ops_bypass() iterates all CPUs to re-enqueue all the scx tasks.
For each CPU, it acquires a lock using rq_lock() regardless of whether
a CPU is offline or the CPU is currently running a task in a higher
scheduler class (e.g., deadline). The rq_lock() is supposed to be used
for online CPUs, and the use of rq_lock() may trigger an unnecessary
warning in rq_pin_lock(). Therefore, replace rq_lock() to
raw_spin_rq_lock() in scx_ops_bypass().

Without this change, we observe the following warning:

===== START =====
[    6.615205] rq->balance_callback && rq->balance_callback != &balance_push_callback
[    6.615208] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 0 at kernel/sched/sched.h:1730 __schedule+0x1130/0x1c90
=====  END  =====

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21657?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21657?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21657 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-21657 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21657 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 Jan 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21657 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21657/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21657/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21657
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21657
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21657

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21657/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.