x86/efi: defer freeing of boot services memory
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: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-401.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/efi: defer freeing of boot services memory efi_free_boot_services() frees memory occupied by EFI_BOOT_SERVICES_CODE and EFI_BOOT_SERVICES_DATA using memblock_free_late(). There are two issue with that: memblock_free_late() should be used for memory allocated with memblock_alloc() while the memory reserved with memblock_reserve() should be freed with free_reserved_area(). More acutely, with CONFIG_DEFERRED_STRUCT_PAGE_INIT=y efi_free_boot_services() is called before deferred initialization of the memory map is complete. Benjamin Herrenschmidt reports that this causes a leak of ~140MB of RAM on EC2 t3a.nano instances which only have 512MB or RAM. If the freed memory resides in the areas that memory map for them is still uninitialized, they won't be actually freed because memblock_free_late() calls memblock_free_pages() and the latter skips uninitialized pages. Using free_reserved_area() at this point is also problematic because __free_page() accesses the buddy of the freed page and that again might end up in uninitialized part of the memory map. Delaying the entire efi_free_boot_services() could be problematic because in addition to freeing boot services memory it updates efi.memmap without any synchronization and that's undesirable late in boot when there is concurrency. More robust approach is to only defer freeing of the EFI boot services memory. Split efi_free_boot_services() in two. First efi_unmap_boot_services() collects ranges that should be freed into an array then efi_free_boot_services() later frees them after deferred init is complete.
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 | 2.6.39.1 to before 2.6.39.2 | 2.6.39.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 3.0 and later | 2.6.39.2, 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.77, 6.18.17, 6.19.7, 7.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.39.1 to before 2.6.39.2 Fixed in 2.6.39.2 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 3.0 and later Fixed in 2.6.39.2, 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.77, 6.18.17, 6.19.7, 7.0 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 10
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.0.1 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.167; 6.2 to before 6.6.130; 6.7 to before 6.12.77; 6.13 to before 6.18.17; 6.19 to before 6.19.7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.39.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.6.39.1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.0 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.0.1 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.167; 6.2 to before 6.6.130; 6.7 to before 6.12.77; 6.13 to before 6.18.17; 6.19 to before 6.19.7 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6.39.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.6.39.1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.0 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc7 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 2.6.39.2
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 2.6.39.2, 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.77, 6.18.17, 6.19.7, 7.0
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. 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-2026-23352
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3ggx-9863-fxcm
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4a2cb90c538f06c873a187aa743575d48685d7a6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7131bd1fecc749bc94fb44aae217bbd8a8a85264
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d8ba221e7aafaa2f284b7d22faee814c28e009d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/227688312fece0026fc67a00ba9a0b3611ebe95d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a25e25279282c5c8ade554c04c6ab9dc7902c64
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/399da820ecfe6f4f10c143e5c453d3559a04db9c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f9e9cc320854a76a39e7bc92d144554f3a727fad
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7dcf59422a3b0d20ddda844f856b4a1e0608a326
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a4b0bf6a40f3c107c67a24fbc614510ef5719980
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Sources
- CVE-2026-23352 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-23352 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-3ggx-9863-fxcm · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-23352 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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