CVE-2025-21898 ftrace: Avoid potential division by zero in function_stat_show()

Medium 5.5 Published Updated

A division by zero error in the Linux kernel ftrace function_stat_show() can cause a system crash, requiring a kernel patch.

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

What is CVE-2025-21898?

CVE-2025-21898 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Apr 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:

ftrace: Avoid potential division by zero in function_stat_show()

Check whether denominator expression x * (x - 1) * 1000 mod {2^32, 2^64} produce zero and skip stddev computation in that case.

For now don't care about rec->counter * rec->counter overflow because rec->time * rec->time overflow will likely happen earlier.

Weakness: CWE-369

Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21898?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2025-21898?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2025-21898 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21898 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as AZL-60354, BELL-CVE-2025-21898, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21898, GHSA-cjrr-3f69-p92j, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21898, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-21898.

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