VMCI: fix race between vmci_host_setup_notify and vmci_ctx_unset_notify
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: 4 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: VMCI: fix race between vmci_host_setup_notify and vmci_ctx_unset_notify During our test, it is found that a warning can be trigger in try_grab_folio as follow: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1678 at mm/gup.c:147 try_grab_folio+0x106/0x130 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1678 Comm: syz.3.31 Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5 #163 PREEMPT(undef) RIP: 0010:try_grab_folio+0x106/0x130 Call Trace: <TASK> follow_huge_pmd+0x240/0x8e0 follow_pmd_mask.constprop.0.isra.0+0x40b/0x5c0 follow_pud_mask.constprop.0.isra.0+0x14a/0x170 follow_page_mask+0x1c2/0x1f0 __get_user_pages+0x176/0x950 __gup_longterm_locked+0x15b/0x1060 ? gup_fast+0x120/0x1f0 gup_fast_fallback+0x17e/0x230 get_user_pages_fast+0x5f/0x80 vmci_host_unlocked_ioctl+0x21c/0xf80 RIP: 0033:0x54d2cd ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Digging into the source, context->notify_page may init by get_user_pages_fast and can be seen in vmci_ctx_unset_notify which will try to put_page. However get_user_pages_fast is not finished here and lead to following try_grab_folio warning. The race condition is shown as follow: cpu0 cpu1 vmci_host_do_set_notify vmci_host_setup_notify get_user_pages_fast(uva, 1, FOLL_WRITE, &context->notify_page); lockless_pages_from_mm gup_pgd_range gup_huge_pmd // update &context->notify_page vmci_host_do_set_notify vmci_ctx_unset_notify notify_page = context->notify_page; if (notify_page) put_page(notify_page); // page is freed __gup_longterm_locked __get_user_pages follow_trans_huge_pmd try_grab_folio // warn here To slove this, use local variable page to make notify_page can be seen after finish get_user_pages_fast.
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 | 4.0 and later | 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.94, 6.12.34, 6.15.3, 6.16 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.0 and later Fixed in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.94, 6.12.34, 6.15.3, 6.16 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 2
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.0 to before 5.4.296; 5.5 to before 5.10.240; 5.11 to before 5.15.186; 5.16 to before 6.1.142; 6.2 to before 6.6.94; 6.7 to before 6.12.34; 6.13 to before 6.15.3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 11.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.0 to before 5.4.296; 5.5 to before 5.10.240; 5.11 to before 5.15.186; 5.16 to before 6.1.142; 6.2 to before 6.6.94; 6.7 to before 6.12.34; 6.13 to before 6.15.3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.4.296, 5.10.240, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.94, 6.12.34, 6.15.3, 6.16
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: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-38102
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-275j-88f3-q9g5
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74095bbbb19ca74a0368d857603a2438c88ca86c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/468aec888f838ce5174b96e0cb4396790d6f60ca
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4209e4b778e4e57d0636e1c9fc07a924dbc6043
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/58a90db70aa6616411e5f69d1982d9b1dd97d774
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e3af836805ed1d7a699f76ec798626198917aa4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/00ddc7dad55b7bbb78df80d6e174d0c4764dea0c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/75b5313c80c39a26d27cbb602f968a05576c36f9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1bd6406fb5f36c2bb1e96e27d4c3e9f4d09edde4
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2025-38102 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-38102 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-275j-88f3-q9g5 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-38102 · 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