dm cache: prevent BUG_ON by blocking retries on failed device resumes
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-617.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm cache: prevent BUG_ON by blocking retries on failed device resumes A cache device failing to resume due to mapping errors should not be retried, as the failure leaves a partially initialized policy object. Repeating the resume operation risks triggering BUG_ON when reloading cache mappings into the incomplete policy object. Reproduce steps: 1. create a cache metadata consisting of 512 or more cache blocks, with some mappings stored in the first array block of the mapping array. Here we use cache_restore v1.0 to build the metadata. cat <<EOF >> cmeta.xml <superblock uuid="" block_size="128" nr_cache_blocks="512" \ policy="smq" hint_width="4"> <mappings> <mapping cache_block="0" origin_block="0" dirty="false"/> </mappings> </superblock> EOF dmsetup create cmeta --table "0 8192 linear /dev/sdc 0" cache_restore -i cmeta.xml -o /dev/mapper/cmeta --metadata-version=2 dmsetup remove cmeta 2. wipe the second array block of the mapping array to simulate data degradations. mapping_root=$(dd if=/dev/sdc bs=1c count=8 skip=192 \ 2>/dev/null | hexdump -e '1/8 "%u\n"') ablock=$(dd if=/dev/sdc bs=1c count=8 skip=$((4096*mapping_root+2056)) \ 2>/dev/null | hexdump -e '1/8 "%u\n"') dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdc bs=4k count=1 seek=$ablock 3. try bringing up the cache device. The resume is expected to fail due to the broken array block. dmsetup create cmeta --table "0 8192 linear /dev/sdc 0" dmsetup create cdata --table "0 65536 linear /dev/sdc 8192" dmsetup create corig --table "0 524288 linear /dev/sdc 262144" dmsetup create cache --notable dmsetup load cache --table "0 524288 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \ /dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 2 metadata2 writethrough smq 0" dmsetup resume cache 4. try resuming the cache again. An unexpected BUG_ON is triggered while loading cache mappings. dmsetup resume cache Kernel logs: (snip) ------------[ cut here ]------------ kernel BUG at drivers/md/dm-cache-policy-smq.c:752! Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN NOPTI CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 332 Comm: dmsetup Not tainted 6.13.4 #3 RIP: 0010:smq_load_mapping+0x3e5/0x570 Fix by disallowing resume operations for devices that failed the initial attempt.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.2 and later | 5.4.294, 5.10.238, 5.15.185, 6.1.141, 6.6.93, 6.12.31, 6.14.9, 6.15 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.2 and later Fixed in 5.4.294, 5.10.238, 5.15.185, 6.1.141, 6.6.93, 6.12.31, 6.14.9, 6.15 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 2
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 5.4.294; 5.5 to before 5.10.238; 5.11 to before 5.15.185; 5.16 to before 6.1.141; 6.2 to before 6.6.93; 6.7 to before 6.12.31; 6.13 to before 6.14.9 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 11.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 5.4.294; 5.5 to before 5.10.238; 5.11 to before 5.15.185; 5.16 to before 6.1.141; 6.2 to before 6.6.93; 6.7 to before 6.12.31; 6.13 to before 6.14.9 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.4.294, 5.10.238, 5.15.185, 6.1.141, 6.6.93, 6.12.31, 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 yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-38066
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-97x5-wjv7-8w72
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c614584c2a66b538f469089ac089457a34590c14
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c5356a5e80442131e2714d0d26bb110590e4e568
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/025c8f477625eb39006ded650e7d027bcfb20e79
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/00586b78eeb7c626a14ca13453a1631f88a7cf36
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3986ef4a9b6a0d9c28bc325d8713beba5e67586f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cc80a5cc520939d0a7d071cc4ae4b3c55ef171d0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3128e3074e8af565cc6a66fe3384a56df87f803
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5da692e2262b8f81993baa9592f57d12c2703dea
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Sources
- CVE-2025-38066 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-38066 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-97x5-wjv7-8w72 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-38066 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences