# CVE-2025-21721: nilfs2: handle errors that nilfs_prepare_chunk() may return

> A missing error check in the nilfs2 filesystem can cause a kernel crash via BUG_ON when directory rename operations encounter metadata errors.

- **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:** 27 Feb 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-21721, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21721, GHSA-6x53-8wjp-mwv4, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21721, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21721

## What is CVE-2025-21721?

CVE-2025-21721 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 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:

nilfs2: handle errors that nilfs_prepare_chunk() may return

Patch series "nilfs2: fix issues with rename operations".

This series fixes BUG_ON check failures reported by syzbot around rename
operations, and a minor behavioral issue where the mtime of a child
directory changes when it is renamed instead of moved.

This patch (of 2):

The directory manipulation routines nilfs_set_link() and
nilfs_delete_entry() rewrite the directory entry in the folio/page
previously read by nilfs_find_entry(), so error handling is omitted on the
assumption that nilfs_prepare_chunk(), which prepares the buffer for
rewriting, will always succeed for these.  And if an error is returned, it
triggers the legacy BUG_ON() checks in each routine.

This assumption is wrong, as proven by syzbot: the buffer layer called by
nilfs_prepare_chunk() may call nilfs_get_block() if necessary, which may
fail due to metadata corruption or other reasons.  This has been there all
along, but improved sanity checks and error handling may have made it more
reproducible in fuzzing tests.

Fix this issue by adding missing error paths in nilfs_set_link(),
nilfs_delete_entry(), and their caller nilfs_rename().

Weakness: CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21721?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21721?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21721 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21721 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-2025-21721 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21721 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 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-2025-21721 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-2025-21721/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21721/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21721
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21721
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21721

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21721/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.