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GHSA-6FHQ-5HRR-WQ44

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-04-03 18:31 – Updated: 2026-04-27 15:30

Details

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

mm/huge_memory: fix use of NULL folio in move_pages_huge_pmd()

move_pages_huge_pmd() handles UFFDIO_MOVE for both normal THPs and huge zero pages. For the huge zero page path, src_folio is explicitly set to NULL, and is used as a sentinel to skip folio operations like lock and rmap.

In the huge zero page branch, src_folio is NULL, so folio_mk_pmd(NULL, pgprot) passes NULL through folio_pfn() and page_to_pfn(). With SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP this silently produces a bogus PFN, installing a PMD pointing to non-existent physical memory. On other memory models it is a NULL dereference.

Use page_folio(src_page) to obtain the valid huge zero folio from the page, which was obtained from pmd_page() and remains valid throughout.

After commit d82d09e48219 ("mm/huge_memory: mark PMD mappings of the huge zero folio special"), moved huge zero PMDs must remain special so vm_normal_page_pmd() continues to treat them as special mappings.

move_pages_huge_pmd() currently reconstructs the destination PMD in the huge zero page branch, which drops PMD state such as pmd_special() on architectures with CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_SPECIAL. As a result, vm_normal_page_pmd() can treat the moved huge zero PMD as a normal page and corrupt its refcount.

Instead of reconstructing the PMD from the folio, derive the destination entry from src_pmdval after pmdp_huge_clear_flush(), then handle the PMD metadata the same way move_huge_pmd() does for moved entries by marking it soft-dirty and clearing uffd-wp.

Severity

7.8 (High)


                  
                    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-31397"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-476"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-04-03T16:16:38Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/huge_memory: fix use of NULL folio in move_pages_huge_pmd()\n\nmove_pages_huge_pmd() handles UFFDIO_MOVE for both normal THPs and huge\nzero pages.  For the huge zero page path, src_folio is explicitly set to\nNULL, and is used as a sentinel to skip folio operations like lock and\nrmap.\n\nIn the huge zero page branch, src_folio is NULL, so folio_mk_pmd(NULL,\npgprot) passes NULL through folio_pfn() and page_to_pfn().  With\nSPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP this silently produces a bogus PFN, installing a PMD\npointing to non-existent physical memory.  On other memory models it is a\nNULL dereference.\n\nUse page_folio(src_page) to obtain the valid huge zero folio from the\npage, which was obtained from pmd_page() and remains valid throughout.\n\nAfter commit d82d09e48219 (\"mm/huge_memory: mark PMD mappings of the huge\nzero folio special\"), moved huge zero PMDs must remain special so\nvm_normal_page_pmd() continues to treat them as special mappings.\n\nmove_pages_huge_pmd() currently reconstructs the destination PMD in the\nhuge zero page branch, which drops PMD state such as pmd_special() on\narchitectures with CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_SPECIAL.  As a result,\nvm_normal_page_pmd() can treat the moved huge zero PMD as a normal page\nand corrupt its refcount.\n\nInstead of reconstructing the PMD from the folio, derive the destination\nentry from src_pmdval after pmdp_huge_clear_flush(), then handle the PMD\nmetadata the same way move_huge_pmd() does for moved entries by marking it\nsoft-dirty and clearing uffd-wp.",
  "id": "GHSA-6fhq-5hrr-wq44",
  "modified": "2026-04-27T15:30:32Z",
  "published": "2026-04-03T18:31:23Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31397"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3133d0986dc5a231d5419167dbac65312b28b41"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3caaee0f9e489fd2282d4ce45791dc8aed2da62"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fae654083bfa409bb2244f390232e2be47f05bfc"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2026-31397 (GCVE-0-2026-31397)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-04-03 15:16 – Updated: 2026-08-05 12:22

Title

mm/huge_memory: fix use of NULL folio in move_pages_huge_pmd()

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/huge_memory: fix use of NULL folio in move_pages_huge_pmd() move_pages_huge_pmd() handles UFFDIO_MOVE for both normal THPs and huge zero pages. For the huge zero page path, src_folio is explicitly set to NULL, and is used as a sentinel to skip folio operations like lock and rmap. In the huge zero page branch, src_folio is NULL, so folio_mk_pmd(NULL, pgprot) passes NULL through folio_pfn() and page_to_pfn(). With SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP this silently produces a bogus PFN, installing a PMD pointing to non-existent physical memory. On other memory models it is a NULL dereference. Use page_folio(src_page) to obtain the valid huge zero folio from the page, which was obtained from pmd_page() and remains valid throughout. After commit d82d09e48219 ("mm/huge_memory: mark PMD mappings of the huge zero folio special"), moved huge zero PMDs must remain special so vm_normal_page_pmd() continues to treat them as special mappings. move_pages_huge_pmd() currently reconstructs the destination PMD in the huge zero page branch, which drops PMD state such as pmd_special() on architectures with CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_SPECIAL. As a result, vm_normal_page_pmd() can treat the moved huge zero PMD as a normal page and corrupt its refcount. Instead of reconstructing the PMD from the folio, derive the destination entry from src_pmdval after pmdp_huge_clear_flush(), then handle the PMD metadata the same way move_huge_pmd() does for moved entries by marking it soft-dirty and clearing uffd-wp.

Severity

7.8 (High)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Assigner

Linux mitre root

References

3 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3caaee0f9e489fd2…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3133d0986dc5a231…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fae654083bfa409bb…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version
Linux	Linux	Affected: e3981db444a0a18d350d9f92e3f2e8d489b54211 , < f3caaee0f9e489fd2282d4ce45791dc8aed2da62 (git) Affected: e3981db444a0a18d350d9f92e3f2e8d489b54211 , < e3133d0986dc5a231d5419167dbac65312b28b41 (git) Affected: e3981db444a0a18d350d9f92e3f2e8d489b54211 , < fae654083bfa409bb2244f390232e2be47f05bfc (git)
Linux	Linux	Affected: 6.16 Unaffected: 0 , < 6.16 (semver) Unaffected: 6.18.20 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.19.10 , ≤ 6.19.* (semver) Unaffected: 7.0 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)

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{
  "containers": {
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        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "mm/huge_memory.c"
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              "status": "affected",
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              "versionType": "git"
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              "lessThan": "e3133d0986dc5a231d5419167dbac65312b28b41",
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            },
            {
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              "versionType": "git"
            }
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          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.16"
            },
            {
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.20",
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            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.19.*",
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              "version": "6.19.10",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.0",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.20",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.16",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
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                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.16",
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                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
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                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.16",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/huge_memory: fix use of NULL folio in move_pages_huge_pmd()\n\nmove_pages_huge_pmd() handles UFFDIO_MOVE for both normal THPs and huge\nzero pages.  For the huge zero page path, src_folio is explicitly set to\nNULL, and is used as a sentinel to skip folio operations like lock and\nrmap.\n\nIn the huge zero page branch, src_folio is NULL, so folio_mk_pmd(NULL,\npgprot) passes NULL through folio_pfn() and page_to_pfn().  With\nSPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP this silently produces a bogus PFN, installing a PMD\npointing to non-existent physical memory.  On other memory models it is a\nNULL dereference.\n\nUse page_folio(src_page) to obtain the valid huge zero folio from the\npage, which was obtained from pmd_page() and remains valid throughout.\n\nAfter commit d82d09e48219 (\"mm/huge_memory: mark PMD mappings of the huge\nzero folio special\"), moved huge zero PMDs must remain special so\nvm_normal_page_pmd() continues to treat them as special mappings.\n\nmove_pages_huge_pmd() currently reconstructs the destination PMD in the\nhuge zero page branch, which drops PMD state such as pmd_special() on\narchitectures with CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_SPECIAL.  As a result,\nvm_normal_page_pmd() can treat the moved huge zero PMD as a normal page\nand corrupt its refcount.\n\nInstead of reconstructing the PMD from the folio, derive the destination\nentry from src_pmdval after pmdp_huge_clear_flush(), then handle the PMD\nmetadata the same way move_huge_pmd() does for moved entries by marking it\nsoft-dirty and clearing uffd-wp."
        }
      ],
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            "baseScore": 7.8,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The vulnerable path is reached through local `userfaultfd` ioctls, specifically `UFFDIO_MOVE`, on the attacker\u0027s own address space.\nAC:L - An attacker can create aligned anonymous VMAs, materialize a huge zero PMD with reads, register the destination with userfaultfd, and issue `UFFDIO_MOVE`; no uncontrollable race is required.\nPR:L - A basic unprivileged local user can create a userspace-only userfaultfd with `UFFD_USER_MODE_ONLY` and exercise `UFFDIO_MOVE` on their own memory.\nUI:N - Exploitation is driven entirely by the attacker\u0027s own syscalls and memory accesses and does not require a victim user action.\nS:U - The impact is within the local kernel and the attacking process\u0027s memory-management context, with no separate security authority crossed.\nC:H - The bug can install a malformed huge PMD and the fix notes refcount corruption when huge zero PMDs lose special state; treating this as kernel memory corruption makes high confidentiality impact defensible.\nI:H - The malformed PMD/refcount corruption affects kernel-managed memory structures and can plausibly be developed beyond a crash into memory modification or control-flow compromise.\nA:H - On some memory models this is a direct NULL dereference, and on common sparse-vmemmap systems it installs a bogus PMD that can crash the kernel during access or later VM teardown."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:22:06.974Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3caaee0f9e489fd2282d4ce45791dc8aed2da62"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e3133d0986dc5a231d5419167dbac65312b28b41"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fae654083bfa409bb2244f390232e2be47f05bfc"
        }
      ],
      "title": "mm/huge_memory: fix use of NULL folio in move_pages_huge_pmd()",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-31397",
    "datePublished": "2026-04-03T15:16:01.427Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-03-09T15:48:24.085Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T12:22:06.974Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.

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