mm/secretmem: fix use-after-free race in fault handler
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: 2 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/secretmem: fix use-after-free race in fault handler When a page fault occurs in a secret memory file created with `memfd_secret(2)`, the kernel will allocate a new folio for it, mark the underlying page as not-present in the direct map, and add it to the file mapping. If two tasks cause a fault in the same page concurrently, both could end up allocating a folio and removing the page from the direct map, but only one would succeed in adding the folio to the file mapping. The task that failed undoes the effects of its attempt by (a) freeing the folio again and (b) putting the page back into the direct map. However, by doing these two operations in this order, the page becomes available to the allocator again before it is placed back in the direct mapping. If another task attempts to allocate the page between (a) and (b), and the kernel tries to access it via the direct map, it would result in a supervisor not-present page fault. Fix the ordering to restore the direct map before the folio is freed.
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
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.197, 6.1.159, 6.6.117, 6.12.59, 6.17.9, 6.18
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 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-40272
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-cv75-hxcc-wfxg
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb1c19636aedae39360e6fdbcaef4f2bcff25785
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e4643d6628edf9c0047b1f8f5bc574665025acb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/42d486d35a4143cc37fc72ee66edc99d942dd367
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/52f2d5cf33de9a8f5e72bbb0ed38282ae0bc4649
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4444767e625da46009fc94a453fd1967b80ba047
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6f86d0534fddfbd08687fa0f01479d4226bc3c3d
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- 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
Sources
- CVE-2025-40272 · CVE Program
- CVE-2025-40272 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cv75-hxcc-wfxg · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2025-40272 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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