Vulnerability in Linux

CVE-2025-21820

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tty: xilinx_uartps: split sysrq handling lockdep detects the following circular locking dependency: CPU 0 CPU 1 ========================== ============================ cdns_uart_isr() printk() uart_port_lock(port) console_lock() cdns_uart_console_write() if (!port->sysrq) uart_port_lock(port) uart_handle_break() port->sysrq = ... uart_handle_sysrq_char() printk() console_lock() The fixed commit attempts to avoid this situation by only taking the port lock in cdns_uart_console_write if port->sysrq unset. However, if (as shown above) cdns_uart_console_write runs before port->sysrq is set, then it will try to take the port lock anyway. This may result in a deadlock. Fix this by splitting sysrq handling into two parts. We use the prepare helper under the port lock and defer handling until we release the lock.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (5.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 5th percentile — 5.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-21820: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-21820?
CVE-2025-21820 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Improper Locking. CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2025-02-27.
How severe is CVE-2025-21820?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-21820 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.