ftrace: Fix UAF when lookup kallsym after ftrace disabled
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 fixed, 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-416 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ftrace: Fix UAF when lookup kallsym after ftrace disabled The following issue happens with a buggy module: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffffffc05d0218 PGD 1bd66f067 P4D 1bd66f067 PUD 1bd671067 PMD 101808067 PTE 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN PTI Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS RIP: 0010:sized_strscpy+0x81/0x2f0 RSP: 0018:ffff88812d76fa08 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffffffc0601010 RCX: dffffc0000000000 RDX: 0000000000000038 RSI: dffffc0000000000 RDI: ffff88812608da2d RBP: 8080808080808080 R08: ffff88812608da2d R09: ffff88812608da68 R10: ffff88812608d82d R11: ffff88812608d810 R12: 0000000000000038 R13: ffff88812608da2d R14: ffffffffc05d0218 R15: fefefefefefefeff FS: 00007fef552de740(0000) GS:ffff8884251c7000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: ffffffffc05d0218 CR3: 00000001146f0000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> ftrace_mod_get_kallsym+0x1ac/0x590 update_iter_mod+0x239/0x5b0 s_next+0x5b/0xa0 seq_read_iter+0x8c9/0x1070 seq_read+0x249/0x3b0 proc_reg_read+0x1b0/0x280 vfs_read+0x17f/0x920 ksys_read+0xf3/0x1c0 do_syscall_64+0x5f/0x2e0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e The above issue may happen as follows: (1) Add kprobe tracepoint; (2) insmod test.ko; (3) Module triggers ftrace disabled; (4) rmmod test.ko; (5) cat /proc/kallsyms; --> Will trigger UAF as test.ko already removed; ftrace_mod_get_kallsym() ... strscpy(module_name, mod_map->mod->name, MODULE_NAME_LEN); ... The problem is when a module triggers an issue with ftrace and sets ftrace_disable. The ftrace_disable is set when an anomaly is discovered and to prevent any more damage, ftrace stops all text modification. The issue that happened was that the ftrace_disable stops more than just the text modification. When a module is loaded, its init functions can also be traced. Because kallsyms deletes the init functions after a module has loaded, ftrace saves them when the module is loaded and function tracing is enabled. This allows the output of the function trace to show the init function names instead of just their raw memory addresses. When a module is removed, ftrace_release_mod() is called, and if ftrace_disable is set, it just returns without doing anything more. The problem here is that it leaves the mod_list still around and if kallsyms is called, it will call into this code and access the module memory that has already been freed as it will return: strscpy(module_name, mod_map->mod->name, MODULE_NAME_LEN); Where the "mod" no longer exists and triggers a UAF bug.
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 | 4.15 and later | 5.4.295, 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 4.15 and later Fixed in 5.4.295, 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
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.15 to before 5.4.295; 5.5 to before 5.10.239; 5.11 to before 5.15.186; 5.16 to before 6.1.142; 6.2 to before 6.6.95; 6.7 to before 6.12.35; 6.13 to before 6.15.4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 11.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.15 to before 5.4.295; 5.5 to before 5.10.239; 5.11 to before 5.15.186; 5.16 to before 6.1.142; 6.2 to before 6.6.95; 6.7 to before 6.12.35; 6.13 to before 6.15.4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 11.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.4.295, 5.10.239, 5.15.186, 6.1.142, 6.6.95, 6.12.35, 6.15.4, 6.16
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2026:18134 Released 2026-05-19 · Red Hat rating Moderatekernel security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) kernel-64k-debug-devel-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-devel-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) kernel-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-core-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) kernel-tools-libs-devel-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, libperf-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-core-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-core-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-6.12.0-211.7.1.el10_2 +9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:18134 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:18134 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:18134 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:18134 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:18134 |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-38346
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r3fp-vvq4-x669
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d064c68781c19f378af1ae741d9132d35d24b2bb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8690cd3258455bbae64f809e1d3ee0f043661c71
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6805582abb720681dd1c87ff677f155dcf4e86c9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/03a162933c4a03b9f1a84f7d8482903c7e1e11bb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83a692a9792aa86249d68a8ac0b9d55ecdd255fa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8e89c17dc8970c5f71a3a991f5724d4c8de42d8c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f78a786ad9a5443a29eef4dae60cde85b7375129
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f914b52c379c12288b7623bb814d0508dbe7481d
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-2025-38346 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-38346 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r3fp-vvq4-x669 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-38346 · 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