Vulnerability · Published Apr 16, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2025-22094powerpc/perf: Fix ref-counting on the PMU 'vpa_pmu'

High 7.3

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 11% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)7.3High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 88.9% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/perf: Fix ref-counting on the PMU 'vpa_pmu' Commit 176cda0619b6 ("powerpc/perf: Add perf interface to expose vpa counters") introduced 'vpa_pmu' to expose Book3s-HV nested APIv2 provided L1<->L2 context switch latency counters to L1 user-space via perf-events. However the newly introduced PMU named 'vpa_pmu' doesn't assign ownership of the PMU to the module 'vpa_pmu'. Consequently the module 'vpa_pmu' can be unloaded while one of the perf-events are still active, which can lead to kernel oops and panic of the form below on a Pseries-LPAR: BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000058 <snip> NIP [c000000000506cb8] event_sched_out+0x40/0x258 LR [c00000000050e8a4] __perf_remove_from_context+0x7c/0x2b0 Call Trace: [c00000025fc3fc30] [c00000025f8457a8] 0xc00000025f8457a8 (unreliable) [c00000025fc3fc80] [fffffffffffffee0] 0xfffffffffffffee0 [c00000025fc3fcd0] [c000000000501e70] event_function+0xa8/0x120 <snip> Kernel panic - not syncing: Aiee, killing interrupt handler! Fix this by adding the module ownership to 'vpa_pmu' so that the module 'vpa_pmu' is ref-counted and prevented from being unloaded when perf-events are initialized.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:13linuxno fix listedDEBIAN-CVE-2025-22094
Debian:14linux6.16.3-1DEBIAN-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:25.10linux-azure-fdeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-22094

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 176cda0619b6c17a553625f6e2fcbc3981ad667d – before 70ea7c5189197c6f5acdcfd8a2651be2c41e2faa176cda0619b6c17a553625f6e2fcbc3981ad667d – before 6cf045b51e2c5721db7e55305f09ee32741e00f9176cda0619b6c17a553625f6e2fcbc3981ad667d – before ff99d5b6a246715f2257123cdf6c4a29cb33aa78
Linux Linux 6.13

References