CVE-2025-38084

mm/hugetlb: unshare page tables during VMA split, not before

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: June 28, 2025 at 07:44 AM UTC
Updated: October 15, 2026 at 10:18 PM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsLinux KernelDebian Linux

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: unshare page tables during VMA split, not before Currently, __split_vma() triggers hugetlb page table unsharing through vm_ops->may_split(). This happens before the VMA lock and rmap locks are taken - which is too early, it allows racing VMA-locked page faults in our process and racing rmap walks from other processes to cause page tables to be shared again before we actually perform the split. Fix it by explicitly calling into the hugetlb unshare logic from __split_vma() in the same place where THP splitting also happens. At that point, both the VMA and the rmap(s) are write-locked. An annoying detail is that we can now call into the helper hugetlb_unshare_pmds() from two different locking contexts: 1. from hugetlb_split(), holding: - mmap lock (exclusively) - VMA lock - file rmap lock (exclusively) 2. hugetlb_unshare_all_pmds(), which I think is designed to be able to call us with only the mmap lock held (in shared mode), but currently only runs while holding mmap lock (exclusively) and VMA lock Backporting note: This commit fixes a racy protection that was introduced in commit b30c14cd6102 ("hugetlb: unshare some PMDs when splitting VMAs"); that commit claimed to fix an issue introduced in 5.13, but it should actually also go all the way back. [[email protected]: v2]

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

2.6.20 ≤ v < 5.10.2395.11 ≤ v < 5.15.1865.16 ≤ v < 6.1.1426.13 ≤ v < 6.15.46.2 ≤ v < 6.6.956.7 ≤ v < 6.12.352.6.2039dde65c9940c97fcd178a3d2b1c57ed8b7b68aa
Vendor states this is fixed in 081056dc00a27bccb55ccc3c6f230a3d5fd3f7e0 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 2511ac64bc1617ca716d3ba8464e481a647c1902 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 366298f2b04d2bf1f2f2b7078405bdf9df9bd5d0 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8a21d5584826f4880f45bbf8f72375f4e6c0ff2a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 9cf5b2a3b72c23fb7b84736d5d19ee6ea718762b (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in af6cfcd0efb7f051af221c418ec8b37a10211947 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in e8847d18cd9fff1edbb45e963d9141273c3b539c (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 2.6.20 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.239 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.186 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.142 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.35 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.15.4 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.16 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.95 (unaffected)

References (10)

Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/081056dc00a27bccb55ccc3c6f230a3d5fd3f7e0
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2511ac64bc1617ca716d3ba8464e481a647c1902
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/366298f2b04d2bf1f2f2b7078405bdf9df9bd5d0
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a21d5584826f4880f45bbf8f72375f4e6c0ff2a
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9cf5b2a3b72c23fb7b84736d5d19ee6ea718762b
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af6cfcd0efb7f051af221c418ec8b37a10211947
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8847d18cd9fff1edbb45e963d9141273c3b539c
Third Party Advisory
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://project-zero.issues.chromium.org/issues/420715744

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
NVD-CWE-noinfo

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