Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-QQQ6-9FJ8-X34C

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-06-18 12:30 – Updated: 2025-11-17 15:30

Details

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

mm/page_alloc: fix race condition in unaccepted memory handling

The page allocator tracks the number of zones that have unaccepted memory using static_branch_enc/dec() and uses that static branch in hot paths to determine if it needs to deal with unaccepted memory.

Borislav and Thomas pointed out that the tracking is racy: operations on static_branch are not serialized against adding/removing unaccepted pages to/from the zone.

Sanity checks inside static_branch machinery detects it:

WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 10 at kernel/jump_label.c:276 __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked+0x8e/0xa0

The comment around the WARN() explains the problem:

/*
 * Warn about the '-1' case though; since that means a
 * decrement is concurrent with a first (0->1) increment. IOW
 * people are trying to disable something that wasn't yet fully
 * enabled. This suggests an ordering problem on the user side.
 */

The effect of this static_branch optimization is only visible on microbenchmark.

Instead of adding more complexity around it, remove it altogether.

Severity

4.7 (Medium)


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

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2025-38008"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-362"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2025-06-18T10:15:32Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/page_alloc: fix race condition in unaccepted memory handling\n\nThe page allocator tracks the number of zones that have unaccepted memory\nusing static_branch_enc/dec() and uses that static branch in hot paths to\ndetermine if it needs to deal with unaccepted memory.\n\nBorislav and Thomas pointed out that the tracking is racy: operations on\nstatic_branch are not serialized against adding/removing unaccepted pages\nto/from the zone.\n\nSanity checks inside static_branch machinery detects it:\n\nWARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 10 at kernel/jump_label.c:276 __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked+0x8e/0xa0\n\nThe comment around the WARN() explains the problem:\n\n\t/*\n\t * Warn about the \u0027-1\u0027 case though; since that means a\n\t * decrement is concurrent with a first (0-\u003e1) increment. IOW\n\t * people are trying to disable something that wasn\u0027t yet fully\n\t * enabled. This suggests an ordering problem on the user side.\n\t */\n\nThe effect of this static_branch optimization is only visible on\nmicrobenchmark.\n\nInstead of adding more complexity around it, remove it altogether.",
  "id": "GHSA-qqq6-9fj8-x34c",
  "modified": "2025-11-17T15:30:32Z",
  "published": "2025-06-18T12:30:30Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38008"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/71dda1cb10702dc2859f00eb789b0502de2176a9"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74953f93f47a45296cc2a3fd04e2a3202ff3fa53"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/98fdd2f612e949c652693f6df00442c81037776d"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fefc075182275057ce607effaa3daa9e6e3bdc73"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2025-38008 (GCVE-0-2025-38008)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-06-18 09:28 – Updated: 2026-05-11 21:19

Title

mm/page_alloc: fix race condition in unaccepted memory handling

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/page_alloc: fix race condition in unaccepted memory handling The page allocator tracks the number of zones that have unaccepted memory using static_branch_enc/dec() and uses that static branch in hot paths to determine if it needs to deal with unaccepted memory. Borislav and Thomas pointed out that the tracking is racy: operations on static_branch are not serialized against adding/removing unaccepted pages to/from the zone. Sanity checks inside static_branch machinery detects it: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 10 at kernel/jump_label.c:276 __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked+0x8e/0xa0 The comment around the WARN() explains the problem: /* * Warn about the '-1' case though; since that means a * decrement is concurrent with a first (0->1) increment. IOW * people are trying to disable something that wasn't yet fully * enabled. This suggests an ordering problem on the user side. */ The effect of this static_branch optimization is only visible on microbenchmark. Instead of adding more complexity around it, remove it altogether.

Severity

No CVSS data available.

Assigner

Linux mitre root

References

4 references

URL	Tags
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/98fdd2f612e949c65…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74953f93f47a45296…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/71dda1cb10702dc28…
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fefc075182275057c…

Impacted products

2 products

Vendor	Product	Version
Linux	Linux	Affected: dcdfdd40fa82b6704d2841938e5c8ec3051eb0d6 , < 98fdd2f612e949c652693f6df00442c81037776d (git) Affected: dcdfdd40fa82b6704d2841938e5c8ec3051eb0d6 , < 74953f93f47a45296cc2a3fd04e2a3202ff3fa53 (git) Affected: dcdfdd40fa82b6704d2841938e5c8ec3051eb0d6 , < 71dda1cb10702dc2859f00eb789b0502de2176a9 (git) Affected: dcdfdd40fa82b6704d2841938e5c8ec3051eb0d6 , < fefc075182275057ce607effaa3daa9e6e3bdc73 (git)
Linux	Linux	Affected: 6.5 Unaffected: 0 , < 6.5 (semver) Unaffected: 6.6.92 , ≤ 6.6.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.12.30 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.14.8 , ≤ 6.14.* (semver) Unaffected: 6.15 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)

Show details on NVD website

JSON

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{
  "containers": {
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      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "mm/internal.h",
            "mm/mm_init.c",
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          ],
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          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "98fdd2f612e949c652693f6df00442c81037776d",
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              "version": "dcdfdd40fa82b6704d2841938e5c8ec3051eb0d6",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "74953f93f47a45296cc2a3fd04e2a3202ff3fa53",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "dcdfdd40fa82b6704d2841938e5c8ec3051eb0d6",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
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              "versionType": "git"
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              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
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          "product": "Linux",
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            "mm/mm_init.c",
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          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.5"
            },
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.6.92",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.12.30",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.14.8",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.15",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.6.92",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "6.5",
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/page_alloc: fix race condition in unaccepted memory handling\n\nThe page allocator tracks the number of zones that have unaccepted memory\nusing static_branch_enc/dec() and uses that static branch in hot paths to\ndetermine if it needs to deal with unaccepted memory.\n\nBorislav and Thomas pointed out that the tracking is racy: operations on\nstatic_branch are not serialized against adding/removing unaccepted pages\nto/from the zone.\n\nSanity checks inside static_branch machinery detects it:\n\nWARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 10 at kernel/jump_label.c:276 __static_key_slow_dec_cpuslocked+0x8e/0xa0\n\nThe comment around the WARN() explains the problem:\n\n\t/*\n\t * Warn about the \u0027-1\u0027 case though; since that means a\n\t * decrement is concurrent with a first (0-\u003e1) increment. IOW\n\t * people are trying to disable something that wasn\u0027t yet fully\n\t * enabled. This suggests an ordering problem on the user side.\n\t */\n\nThe effect of this static_branch optimization is only visible on\nmicrobenchmark.\n\nInstead of adding more complexity around it, remove it altogether."
        }
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        "dateUpdated": "2026-05-11T21:19:31.804Z",
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    "datePublished": "2025-06-18T09:28:19.358Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-04-16T04:51:23.977Z",
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  },
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}

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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