CVE-2025-21643: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Fix kernel async DIO Netfslib needs to be able to handle kernel-initiated...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Fix kernel async DIO Netfslib needs to be able to handle kernel-initiated asynchronous DIO that is supplied with a bio_vec[] array. Currently, because of the async flag, this gets passed to netfs_extract_user_iter() which throws a warning and fails because it only handles IOVEC and UBUF iterators. This can be triggered through a combination of cifs and a loopback blockdev with something like: mount //my/cifs/share /foo dd if=/dev/zero of=/foo/m0 bs=4K count=1K losetup --sector-size 4096 --direct-io=on /dev/loop2046 /foo/m0 echo hello >/dev/loop2046 This causes the following to appear in syslog: WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 109 at fs/netfs/iterator.c:50 netfs_extract_user_iter+0x170/0x250 [netfs] and the write to fail. Fix this by removing the check in netfs_unbuffered_write_iter_locked() that causes async kernel DIO writes to be handled as userspace writes. Note that this change relies on the kernel caller maintaining the existence of the bio_vec array (or kvec[] or folio_queue) until the op is complete.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability

0.21%

11.1th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions	Update
Linux	Linux Kernel	>= 6.8, < 6.12.10	—
Linux	Linux Kernel	6.13	Rc1

References

Timeline

Published: Jan 19, 2025
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-21643?

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Fix kernel async DIO Netfslib needs to be able to handle kernel-initiated asynchronous DIO that is supplied with a bio_vec[] array. Currently, because of the async flag, this gets passed to netfs_extract_user_iter() which throws a warning and fails because it only handles IOVEC and UBUF iterators. This can be triggered through a combination of cifs and a loopback blockdev with something like: mount //my/cifs/share /foo dd if=/dev/zero of=/foo/m0 bs=4K count=1K losetup --sector-size 4096 --direct-io=on /dev/loop2046 /foo/m0 echo hello >/dev/loop2046 This causes the following to appear in syslog: WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 109 at fs/netfs/iterator.c:50 netfs_extract_user_iter+0x170/0x250 [netfs] and the write to fail. Fix this by removing the check in netfs_unbuffered_write_iter_locked() that causes async kernel DIO writes to be handled as userspace writes. Note that this change relies on the kernel caller maintaining the existence of the bio_vec array (or kvec[] or folio_queue) until the op is complete.

How severe is CVE-2025-21643?

CVE-2025-21643 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.21% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2025-21643?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.