CVE-2026-64130 (GCVE-0-2026-64130)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-07-19 15:40 – Updated: 2026-07-19 15:40
VLAI
Title
mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free __GFP_ZEROTAGS semantics are currently a bit weird, but effectively this flag is only ever set alongside __GFP_ZERO and __GFP_SKIP_KASAN. If we run with init_on_free, we will zero out pages during __free_pages_prepare(), to skip zeroing on the allocation path. However, when allocating with __GFP_ZEROTAG set, post_alloc_hook() will consequently not only skip clearing page content, but also skip clearing tag memory. Not clearing tags through __GFP_ZEROTAGS is irrelevant for most pages that will get mapped to user space through set_pte_at() later: set_pte_at() and friends will detect that the tags have not been initialized yet (PG_mte_tagged not set), and initialize them. However, for the huge zero folio, which will be mapped through a PMD marked as special, this initialization will not be performed, ending up exposing whatever tags were still set for the pages. The docs (Documentation/arch/arm64/memory-tagging-extension.rst) state that allocation tags are set to 0 when a page is first mapped to user space. That no longer holds with the huge zero folio when init_on_free is enabled. Fix it by decoupling __GFP_ZEROTAGS from __GFP_ZERO, passing to tag_clear_highpages() whether we want to also clear page content. Invert the meaning of the tag_clear_highpages() return value to have clearer semantics. Reproduced with the huge zero folio by modifying the check_buffer_fill arm64/mte selftest to use a 2 MiB area, after making sure that pages have a non-0 tag set when freeing (note that, during boot, we will not actually initialize tags, but only set KASAN_TAG_KERNEL in the page flags). $ ./check_buffer_fill 1..20 ... not ok 17 Check initial tags with private mapping, sync error mode and mmap memory not ok 18 Check initial tags with private mapping, sync error mode and mmap/mprotect memory ... This code needs more cleanups; we'll tackle that next, like decoupling __GFP_ZEROTAGS from __GFP_SKIP_KASAN. [akpm@linux-foundation.org: s/__GPF_ZERO/__GFP_ZERO/, per David]
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Affected: adfb6609c6809e107ded9a1cd46f519c882e64ea , < 738d18f1da3513d17b6f7bf30146cc4ac2480ffd (git)
Affected: adfb6609c6809e107ded9a1cd46f519c882e64ea , < 2f2aec5120b93a8f8b52dc50cdc60dbb8aec72f6 (git)
Affected: adfb6609c6809e107ded9a1cd46f519c882e64ea , < 6a288a4ddb4a994490505ab5f41c445f8e6b6467 (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 6.18
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.18 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.34 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.0.11 , ≤ 7.0.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free\n\n__GFP_ZEROTAGS semantics are currently a bit weird, but effectively this\nflag is only ever set alongside __GFP_ZERO and __GFP_SKIP_KASAN.\n\nIf we run with init_on_free, we will zero out pages during\n__free_pages_prepare(), to skip zeroing on the allocation path.\n\nHowever, when allocating with __GFP_ZEROTAG set, post_alloc_hook() will\nconsequently not only skip clearing page content, but also skip clearing\ntag memory.\n\nNot clearing tags through __GFP_ZEROTAGS is irrelevant for most pages that\nwill get mapped to user space through set_pte_at() later: set_pte_at() and\nfriends will detect that the tags have not been initialized yet\n(PG_mte_tagged not set), and initialize them.\n\nHowever, for the huge zero folio, which will be mapped through a PMD\nmarked as special, this initialization will not be performed, ending up\nexposing whatever tags were still set for the pages.\n\nThe docs (Documentation/arch/arm64/memory-tagging-extension.rst) state\nthat allocation tags are set to 0 when a page is first mapped to user\nspace.  That no longer holds with the huge zero folio when init_on_free is\nenabled.\n\nFix it by decoupling __GFP_ZEROTAGS from __GFP_ZERO, passing to\ntag_clear_highpages() whether we want to also clear page content.\n\nInvert the meaning of the tag_clear_highpages() return value to have\nclearer semantics.\n\nReproduced with the huge zero folio by modifying the check_buffer_fill\narm64/mte selftest to use a 2 MiB area, after making sure that pages have\na non-0 tag set when freeing (note that, during boot, we will not actually\ninitialize tags, but only set KASAN_TAG_KERNEL in the page flags).\n\n\t$ ./check_buffer_fill\n\t1..20\n\t...\n\tnot ok 17 Check initial tags with private mapping, sync error mode and mmap memory\n\tnot ok 18 Check initial tags with private mapping, sync error mode and mmap/mprotect memory\n\t...\n\nThis code needs more cleanups; we\u0027ll tackle that next, like\ndecoupling __GFP_ZEROTAGS from __GFP_SKIP_KASAN.\n\n[akpm@linux-foundation.org: s/__GPF_ZERO/__GFP_ZERO/, per David]"
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        "dateUpdated": "2026-07-19T15:40:26.108Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
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        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a288a4ddb4a994490505ab5f41c445f8e6b6467"
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      ],
      "title": "mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free",
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-64130",
    "datePublished": "2026-07-19T15:40:26.108Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-07-19T07:54:57.036Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-07-19T15:40:26.108Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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      "percentile": "0.06191"
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    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-07-21T06:02:26+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-64130",
      "id": "CVE-2026-64130",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-07-19T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_affected": "14",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "260",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: mm/page_alloc: fix initialization of tags of the huge zero folio with init_on_free",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-64130.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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