CVE-2025-21898

Kernel crash via wrapped ftrace statistics denominator

Published Apr 1, 2025 · Updated May 23, 2026

Divide-by-zero in Linux kernel ftrace statistics allows local users to crash the kernel by reading function-profile output. function_stat_show() multiplies the sample count into a fixed-width standard-deviation denominator without first rejecting values whose arithmetic wraparound produces zero. Reaching the calculation requires local access to configured ftrace function profiling and its tracefs statistics output, and the reported consequence is limited to availability.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.23%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Divide-by-zero in Linux kernel ftrace statistics allows local users to crash the kernel by reading function-profile output. function_stat_show() multiplies the sample count into a fixed-width standard-deviation denominator without first rejecting values whose arithmetic wraparound produces zero. Reaching the calculation requires local access to configured ftrace function profiling and its tracefs statistics output, and the reported consequence is limited to availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-21898
Published
Apr 1, 2025
Updated
May 23, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-369, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 1, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 23, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=010a7e846d4beaf34384c40ff18d5de10106d9b4
  2. Affected versionversion=015f0fd0fcc338513f80044add27fa46cf71d217
  3. Affected versionversion=1a2985af2a20b816a5cc41a2ddc1c4109ef6b9c6
  4. Affected versionversion=3.16.83 <3.17
  5. Affected versionversion=4.14.163 <4.15
  6. Affected versionversion=4.19.94 <4.20
  7. Affected versionversion=4.4.209 <4.5
  8. Affected versionversion=4.9.209 <4.10
  9. Affected versionversion=5.4.9 <5.4.291
  10. Affected versionversion=5.5
  11. Affected versionversion=7650b4b1df091815bbbbb837d308dd4154684f8a
  12. Affected versionversion=c59e74104cfd7df3ca0b5f59f1baee9c8c28b9ef
  13. Affected versionversion=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <3d738b53ed6cddb68e68c9874520a4bf846163b5
  14. Affected versionversion=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <746cc474a95473591853927b3a9792a2d671155b
  15. Affected versionversion=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <992775227843c9376773784b8b362add44592ad7
  16. Affected versionversion=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <9cdac46fa7e854e587eb5f393fe491b6d7a9bdf6
  17. Affected versionversion=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <a1a7eb89ca0b89dc1c326eeee2596f263291aca3
  18. Affected versionversion=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <ca381f60a3bb7cfaa618d73ca411610bd7fc3149
  19. Affected versionversion=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <f58a3f8e284d0bdf94164a8e61cd4e70d337a1a3
  20. Affected versionversion=f0629ee3922f10112584b1898491fecc74d98b3b <5b3d32f607f0478b414b16516cf27f9170cf66c8

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=010a7e846d4beaf34384c40ff18d5de10106d9b4; version=015f0fd0fcc338513f80044add27fa46cf71d217; version=1a2985af2a20b816a5cc41a2ddc1c4109ef6b9c6; version=3.16.83 <3.17; version=4.14.163 <4.15; version=4.19.94 <4.20; version=4.4.209 <4.5; version=4.9.209 <4.10; version=5.4.9 <5.4.291; version=5.5; version=7650b4b1df091815bbbbb837d308dd4154684f8a; version=c59e74104cfd7df3ca0b5f59f1baee9c8c28b9ef; version=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <3d738b53ed6cddb68e68c9874520a4bf846163b5; version=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <746cc474a95473591853927b3a9792a2d671155b; version=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <992775227843c9376773784b8b362add44592ad7; version=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <9cdac46fa7e854e587eb5f393fe491b6d7a9bdf6; version=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <a1a7eb89ca0b89dc1c326eeee2596f263291aca3; version=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <ca381f60a3bb7cfaa618d73ca411610bd7fc3149; version=e31f7939c1c27faa5d0e3f14519eaf7c89e8a69d <f58a3f8e284d0bdf94164a8e61cd4e70d337a1a3; version=f0629ee3922f10112584b1898491fecc74d98b3b <5b3d32f607f0478b414b16516cf27f9170cf66c8

Published CVSS scores

5.5CISA ADP VulnrichmentCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-369Divide By Zero
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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