GHSA-WF4Q-Q8QJ-834V
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-08-19 18:31 – Updated: 2025-11-18 18:32In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm: fix a UAF when vma->mm is freed after vma->vm_refcnt got dropped
By inducing delays in the right places, Jann Horn created a reproducer for a hard to hit UAF issue that became possible after VMAs were allowed to be recycled by adding SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU to their cache.
Race description is borrowed from Jann's discovery report: lock_vma_under_rcu() looks up a VMA locklessly with mas_walk() under rcu_read_lock(). At that point, the VMA may be concurrently freed, and it can be recycled by another process. vma_start_read() then increments the vma->vm_refcnt (if it is in an acceptable range), and if this succeeds, vma_start_read() can return a recycled VMA.
In this scenario where the VMA has been recycled, lock_vma_under_rcu() will then detect the mismatching ->vm_mm pointer and drop the VMA through vma_end_read(), which calls vma_refcount_put(). vma_refcount_put() drops the refcount and then calls rcuwait_wake_up() using a copy of vma->vm_mm. This is wrong: It implicitly assumes that the caller is keeping the VMA's mm alive, but in this scenario the caller has no relation to the VMA's mm, so the rcuwait_wake_up() can cause UAF.
The diagram depicting the race: T1 T2 T3 == == == lock_vma_under_rcu mas_walk mmap vma_start_read __refcount_inc_not_zero_limited_acquire munmap __vma_enter_locked refcount_add_not_zero vma_end_read vma_refcount_put __refcount_dec_and_test rcuwait_wait_event rcuwait_wake_up [UAF]
Note that rcuwait_wait_event() in T3 does not block because refcount was already dropped by T1. At this point T3 can exit and free the mm causing UAF in T1.
To avoid this we move vma->vm_mm verification into vma_start_read() and grab vma->vm_mm to stabilize it before vma_refcount_put() operation.
[surenb@google.com: v3]
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-38554"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-416"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2025-08-19T17:15:31Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm: fix a UAF when vma-\u003emm is freed after vma-\u003evm_refcnt got dropped\n\nBy inducing delays in the right places, Jann Horn created a reproducer for\na hard to hit UAF issue that became possible after VMAs were allowed to be\nrecycled by adding SLAB_TYPESAFE_BY_RCU to their cache.\n\nRace description is borrowed from Jann\u0027s discovery report:\nlock_vma_under_rcu() looks up a VMA locklessly with mas_walk() under\nrcu_read_lock(). At that point, the VMA may be concurrently freed, and it\ncan be recycled by another process. vma_start_read() then increments the\nvma-\u003evm_refcnt (if it is in an acceptable range), and if this succeeds,\nvma_start_read() can return a recycled VMA.\n\nIn this scenario where the VMA has been recycled, lock_vma_under_rcu()\nwill then detect the mismatching -\u003evm_mm pointer and drop the VMA through\nvma_end_read(), which calls vma_refcount_put(). vma_refcount_put() drops\nthe refcount and then calls rcuwait_wake_up() using a copy of vma-\u003evm_mm. \nThis is wrong: It implicitly assumes that the caller is keeping the VMA\u0027s\nmm alive, but in this scenario the caller has no relation to the VMA\u0027s mm,\nso the rcuwait_wake_up() can cause UAF.\n\nThe diagram depicting the race:\nT1 T2 T3\n== == ==\nlock_vma_under_rcu\n mas_walk\n \u003cVMA gets removed from mm\u003e\n mmap\n \u003cthe same VMA is reallocated\u003e\n vma_start_read\n __refcount_inc_not_zero_limited_acquire\n munmap\n __vma_enter_locked\n refcount_add_not_zero\n vma_end_read\n vma_refcount_put\n __refcount_dec_and_test\n rcuwait_wait_event\n \u003cfinish operation\u003e\n rcuwait_wake_up [UAF]\n\nNote that rcuwait_wait_event() in T3 does not block because refcount was\nalready dropped by T1. At this point T3 can exit and free the mm causing\nUAF in T1.\n\nTo avoid this we move vma-\u003evm_mm verification into vma_start_read() and\ngrab vma-\u003evm_mm to stabilize it before vma_refcount_put() operation.\n\n[surenb@google.com: v3]",
"id": "GHSA-wf4q-q8qj-834v",
"modified": "2025-11-18T18:32:49Z",
"published": "2025-08-19T18:31:32Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38554"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1bcd236a2536a451e385f8d6d2bb589689ec812f"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e88fe54721dee17d3496bc998f0c7d243896348"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9bbffee67ffd16360179327b57f3b1245579ef08"
}
],
"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"
}
]
}
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