# CVE-2025-21821: fbdev: omap: use threaded IRQ for LCD DMA

> A scheduling bug in the Linux kernel's OMAP framebuffer driver causes system crashes when using touchscreen and framebuffer simultaneously.

- **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-2025-21821, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21821, GHSA-2jj4-33hw-m7m9, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-21821, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2025-21821, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21821, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21821

## What is CVE-2025-21821?

CVE-2025-21821 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:

fbdev: omap: use threaded IRQ for LCD DMA

When using touchscreen and framebuffer, Nokia 770 crashes easily with:

    BUG: scheduling while atomic: irq/144-ads7846/82/0x00010000
    Modules linked in: usb_f_ecm g_ether usb_f_rndis u_ether libcomposite configfs omap_udc ohci_omap ohci_hcd
    CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 82 Comm: irq/144-ads7846 Not tainted 6.12.7-770 #2
    Hardware name: Nokia 770
    Call trace:
     unwind_backtrace from show_stack+0x10/0x14
     show_stack from dump_stack_lvl+0x54/0x5c
     dump_stack_lvl from __schedule_bug+0x50/0x70
     __schedule_bug from __schedule+0x4d4/0x5bc
     __schedule from schedule+0x34/0xa0
     schedule from schedule_preempt_disabled+0xc/0x10
     schedule_preempt_disabled from __mutex_lock.constprop.0+0x218/0x3b4
     __mutex_lock.constprop.0 from clk_prepare_lock+0x38/0xe4
     clk_prepare_lock from clk_set_rate+0x18/0x154
     clk_set_rate from sossi_read_data+0x4c/0x168
     sossi_read_data from hwa742_read_reg+0x5c/0x8c
     hwa742_read_reg from send_frame_handler+0xfc/0x300
     send_frame_handler from process_pending_requests+0x74/0xd0
     process_pending_requests from lcd_dma_irq_handler+0x50/0x74
     lcd_dma_irq_handler from __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x44/0x130
     __handle_irq_event_percpu from handle_irq_event+0x28/0x68
     handle_irq_event from handle_level_irq+0x9c/0x170
     handle_level_irq from generic_handle_domain_irq+0x2c/0x3c
     generic_handle_domain_irq from omap1_handle_irq+0x40/0x8c
     omap1_handle_irq from generic_handle_arch_irq+0x28/0x3c
     generic_handle_arch_irq from call_with_stack+0x1c/0x24
     call_with_stack from __irq_svc+0x94/0xa8
    Exception stack(0xc5255da0 to 0xc5255de8)
    5da0: 00000001 c22fc620 00000000 00000000 c08384a8 c106fc00 00000000 c240c248
    5dc0: c113a600 c3f6ec30 00000001 00000000 c22fc620 c5255df0 c22fc620 c0279a94
    5de0: 60000013 ffffffff
     __irq_svc from clk_prepare_lock+0x4c/0xe4
     clk_prepare_lock from clk_get_rate+0x10/0x74
     clk_get_rate from uwire_setup_transfer+0x40/0x180
     uwire_setup_transfer from spi_bitbang_transfer_one+0x2c/0x9c
     spi_bitbang_transfer_one from spi_transfer_one_message+0x2d0/0x664
     spi_transfer_one_message from __spi_pump_transfer_message+0x29c/0x498
     __spi_pump_transfer_message from __spi_sync+0x1f8/0x2e8
     __spi_sync from spi_sync+0x24/0x40
     spi_sync from ads7846_halfd_read_state+0x5c/0x1c0
     ads7846_halfd_read_state from ads7846_irq+0x58/0x348
     ads7846_irq from irq_thread_fn+0x1c/0x78
     irq_thread_fn from irq_thread+0x120/0x228
     irq_thread from kthread+0xc8/0xe8
     kthread from ret_from_fork+0x14/0x28

As a quick fix, switch to a threaded IRQ which provides a stable system.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21821?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-21821?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-21821 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21821 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-2025-21821 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-21821 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-2025-21821 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-2025-21821/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21821/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21821
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-21821
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-21821

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-21821/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.