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CVE-2025-21754

5.5 · MEDIUM

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix assertion failure when splitting ordered extent after transaction abort If while we are doing a direct IO write a tr…

Published Feb 27, 2025CWE-617EPSS 0.24%

Overview

CVE-2025-21754 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on February 27, 2025 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

Technical description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

btrfs: fix assertion failure when splitting ordered extent after transaction abort

If while we are doing a direct IO write a transaction abort happens, we

mark all existing ordered extents with the BTRFS_ORDERED_IOERR flag (done

at btrfs_destroy_ordered_extents()), and then after that if we enter

btrfs_split_ordered_extent() and the ordered extent has bytes left

(meaning we have a bio that doesn't cover the whole ordered extent, see

details at btrfs_extract_ordered_extent()), we will fail on the following

assertion at btrfs_split_ordered_extent():

ASSERT(!(flags & ~BTRFS_ORDERED_TYPE_FLAGS));

because the BTRFS_ORDERED_IOERR flag is set and the definition of

BTRFS_ORDERED_TYPE_FLAGS is just the union of all flags that identify the

type of write (regular, nocow, prealloc, compressed, direct IO, encoded).

Fix this by returning an error from btrfs_extract_ordered_extent() if we

find the BTRFS_ORDERED_IOERR flag in

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-21754?

CVE-2025-21754 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on February 27, 2025 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2025-21754?

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

How do I fix or remediate CVE-2025-21754?

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2025-21754?

CyberStrike is an open-source, AI-augmented pentesting engine. Rather than flag a version number, it tests whether an issue like CVE-2025-21754 is actually reachable in your own applications and APIs, then verifies each finding before reporting it. That tells you if the weakness is a real, exploitable risk in your environment or a false positive you can safely deprioritize.

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