CVE-2025-21658: Linux kernel · btrfs: avoid NULL pointer dereference if no valid extent tree
Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium · fixed in 6.8.0-1029.31~22.04.1 : update Linux kernel when convenient.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 12:55 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 10% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 6.8.0-1029.31~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1029.34~22.04.1, 6.8.0-1030.32~22.04.1 +31
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 21 Jan 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux@6.8.0-60.63?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws@6.8.0-1029.31?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure@6.8.0-1029.34?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-6.11pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11@6.11.0-1012.12~24.04.1?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-azure-nvidiapkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia@6.8.0-1016.17?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSlinux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp@6.8.0-1030.32?arch=source&distro=nobleOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: avoid NULL pointer dereference if no valid extent tree [BUG] Syzbot reported a crash with the following call trace: BTRFS info (device loop0): scrub: started on devid 1 BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000208 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 106e70067 P4D 106e70067 PUD 107143067 PMD 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 689 Comm: repro Kdump: loaded Tainted: G O 6.13.0-rc4-custom+ #206 Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS unknown 02/02/2022 RIP: 0010:find_first_extent_item+0x26/0x1f0 [btrfs] Call Trace: <TASK> scrub_find_fill_first_stripe+0x13d/0x3b0 [btrfs] scrub_simple_mirror+0x175/0x260 [btrfs] scrub_stripe+0x5d4/0x6c0 [btrfs] scrub_chunk+0xbb/0x170 [btrfs] scrub_enumerate_chunks+0x2f4/0x5f0 [btrfs] btrfs_scrub_dev+0x240/0x600 [btrfs] btrfs_ioctl+0x1dc8/0x2fa0 [btrfs] ? do_sys_openat2+0xa5/0xf0 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x97/0xc0 do_syscall_64+0x4f/0x120 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e </TASK> [CAUSE] The reproducer is using a corrupted image where extent tree root is corrupted, thus forcing to use "rescue=all,ro" mount option to mount the image. Then it triggered a scrub, but since scrub relies on extent tree to find where the data/metadata extents are, scrub_find_fill_first_stripe() relies on an non-empty extent root. But unfortunately scrub_find_fill_first_stripe() doesn't really expect an NULL pointer for extent root, it use extent_root to grab fs_info and triggered a NULL pointer dereference. [FIX] Add an extra check for a valid extent root at the beginning of scrub_find_fill_first_stripe(). The new error path is introduced by 42437a6386ff ("btrfs: introduce mount option rescue=ignorebadroots"), but that's pretty old, and later commit b979547513ff ("btrfs: scrub: introduce helper to find and fill sector info for a scrub_stripe") changed how we do scrub. So for kernels older than 6.6, the fix will need manual backport.
References
- ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-21658 (opens in a new tab)
- cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-21658 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/linus/6aecd91a5c5b68939cf4169e32bc49f3cd2dd329 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/24b85a8b0310e0144da9ab30be42e87e6476638a (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6aecd91a5c5b68939cf4169e32bc49f3cd2dd329 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/aee5f69f3e6cd82bfefaca1b70b40b6cd8f3f784 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7379-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7380-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7381-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7382-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7379-2 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7513-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7513-2 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7514-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7515-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7513-3 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7522-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7515-2 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7523-1 (opens in a new tab)
- ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7524-1 (opens in a new tab)