Local system hang via BPF tracing deadlock
Published May 9, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Improper locking in Linux kernel 6.13 allows local users to hang the system by triggering a BPF tracing lock inversion. The bpf_prog_test_run_syscall path holds an RCU Tasks Trace read lock while trace_set_clr_event waits on event_mutex, opposing teardown that holds event_mutex while synchronizing RCU Tasks Trace. Local low-privileged access sufficient to load and test BPF tracing programs allows the deadlock to stop system service.
Summary
What happened
Improper locking in Linux kernel 6.13 allows local users to hang the system by triggering a BPF tracing lock inversion. The bpf_prog_test_run_syscall path holds an RCU Tasks Trace read lock while trace_set_clr_event waits on event_mutex, opposing teardown that holds event_mutex while synchronizing RCU Tasks Trace. Local low-privileged access sufficient to load and test BPF tracing programs allows the deadlock to stop system service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-37884
- Published
- May 9, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-667, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 9, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=6.13
- Affected versionversion=a363d27cdbc2bc2d1899b5a1520b64e3590fcd9a <45286680b385f2592db3003554872388dee66d68
- Affected versionversion=a363d27cdbc2bc2d1899b5a1520b64e3590fcd9a <4580f4e0ebdf8dc8d506ae926b88510395a0c1d1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Technologies
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Your stack
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