kasan: avoid sleepable page allocation from atomic context
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kasan: avoid sleepable page allocation from atomic context apply_to_pte_range() enters the lazy MMU mode and then invokes kasan_populate_vmalloc_pte() callback on each page table walk iteration. However, the callback can go into sleep when trying to allocate a single page, e.g. if an architecutre disables preemption on lazy MMU mode enter. On s390 if make arch_enter_lazy_mmu_mode() -> preempt_enable() and arch_leave_lazy_mmu_mode() -> preempt_disable(), such crash occurs: [ 0.663336] BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at ./include/linux/sched/mm.h:321 [ 0.663348] in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 2, name: kthreadd [ 0.663358] preempt_count: 1, expected: 0 [ 0.663366] RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0 [ 0.663375] no locks held by kthreadd/2. [ 0.663383] Preemption disabled at: [ 0.663386] [<0002f3284cbb4eda>] apply_to_pte_range+0xfa/0x4a0 [ 0.663405] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 2 Comm: kthreadd Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5-gcc-kasan-00043-gd76bb1ebb558-dirty #162 PREEMPT [ 0.663408] Hardware name: IBM 3931 A01 701 (KVM/Linux) [ 0.663409] Call Trace: [ 0.663410] [<0002f3284c385f58>] dump_stack_lvl+0xe8/0x140 [ 0.663413] [<0002f3284c507b9e>] __might_resched+0x66e/0x700 [ 0.663415] [<0002f3284cc4f6c0>] __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x370/0x4b0 [ 0.663419] [<0002f3284ccc73c0>] alloc_pages_mpol+0x1a0/0x4a0 [ 0.663421] [<0002f3284ccc8518>] alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x88/0xc0 [ 0.663424] [<0002f3284ccc8572>] alloc_pages_noprof+0x22/0x120 [ 0.663427] [<0002f3284cc341ac>] get_free_pages_noprof+0x2c/0xc0 [ 0.663429] [<0002f3284cceba70>] kasan_populate_vmalloc_pte+0x50/0x120 [ 0.663433] [<0002f3284cbb4ef8>] apply_to_pte_range+0x118/0x4a0 [ 0.663435] [<0002f3284cbc7c14>] apply_to_pmd_range+0x194/0x3e0 [ 0.663437] [<0002f3284cbc99be>] __apply_to_page_range+0x2fe/0x7a0 [ 0.663440] [<0002f3284cbc9e88>] apply_to_page_range+0x28/0x40 [ 0.663442] [<0002f3284ccebf12>] kasan_populate_vmalloc+0x82/0xa0 [ 0.663445] [<0002f3284cc1578c>] alloc_vmap_area+0x34c/0xc10 [ 0.663448] [<0002f3284cc1c2a6>] __get_vm_area_node+0x186/0x2a0 [ 0.663451] [<0002f3284cc1e696>] __vmalloc_node_range_noprof+0x116/0x310 [ 0.663454] [<0002f3284cc1d950>] __vmalloc_node_noprof+0xd0/0x110 [ 0.663457] [<0002f3284c454b88>] alloc_thread_stack_node+0xf8/0x330 [ 0.663460] [<0002f3284c458d56>] dup_task_struct+0x66/0x4d0 [ 0.663463] [<0002f3284c45be90>] copy_process+0x280/0x4b90 [ 0.663465] [<0002f3284c460940>] kernel_clone+0xd0/0x4b0 [ 0.663467] [<0002f3284c46115e>] kernel_thread+0xbe/0xe0 [ 0.663469] [<0002f3284c4e440e>] kthreadd+0x50e/0x7f0 [ 0.663472] [<0002f3284c38c04a>] __ret_from_fork+0x8a/0xf0 [ 0.663475] [<0002f3284ed57ff2>] ret_from_fork+0xa/0x38 Instead of allocating single pages per-PTE, bulk-allocate the shadow memory prior to applying kasan_populate_vmalloc_pte() callback on a page range.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.5 and later | 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.14.9, 6.15 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.5 and later Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.14.9, 6.15 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 8
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.5 to before 6.14.9 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.15 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.15 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.15 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.15 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.15 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.15 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.15 rc7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.5 to before 6.14.9 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.15 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.15 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.15 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.15 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.15 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.15 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.15 rc7 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.14.9, 6.15
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-38029
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-j5w8-q98j-jcfx
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@468e7d51dba433a72dcd63eee6db9ad721d39ac5, Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] +1 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 2 new references · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@d6a895d88fbd453dc8f1c5e038188b49b272afe6 · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
Patch 2
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
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- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2025-38029 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-38029 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-j5w8-q98j-jcfx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-38029 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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