mm/hugetlb: unshare page tables during VMA split, not before
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 10 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
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]
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 | 2.6.20 and later | 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.95, 6.12.35, 6.15.4, 6.16 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.20 and later Fixed in 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.95, 6.12.35, 6.15.4, 6.16 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 2
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.95, 6.12.35, 6.15.4, 6.16
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2025:13962 Released 2025-08-18 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-64k-core-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, libperf-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-64k-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-64k-core-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-570.35.1.el9_6 +11
- RHSA-2025:13598 Released 2025-08-11 · Red Hat rating Moderatekernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) kernel-64k-debug-devel-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-devel-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) kernel-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-64k-core-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) kernel-tools-libs-devel-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, libperf-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-64k-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-64k-core-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-core-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0, kernel-rt-debug-6.12.0-55.27.1.el10_0 +11
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| 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 planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13598 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13962 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13598 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13962 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13598 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13962 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13598 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13962 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13598 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2025:13962 |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-38084
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mfp4-4cfm-v388
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8847d18cd9fff1edbb45e963d9141273c3b539c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/366298f2b04d2bf1f2f2b7078405bdf9df9bd5d0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2511ac64bc1617ca716d3ba8464e481a647c1902
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/af6cfcd0efb7f051af221c418ec8b37a10211947
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9cf5b2a3b72c23fb7b84736d5d19ee6ea718762b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8a21d5584826f4880f45bbf8f72375f4e6c0ff2a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/081056dc00a27bccb55ccc3c6f230a3d5fd3f7e0
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Sources
- CVE-2025-38084 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-38084 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-mfp4-4cfm-v388 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-38084 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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