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TI-2026-64155 Aliases CVE-2026-97525GHSA-89c6-7qg8-m7m4

x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables

Priority LOW 35Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables A PTE is allocated directly without going through the standard page table allocation routines (such as pte_alloc_one_kernel()) when the CPA code splits a large page (__split_large_page()). This means the page table constructor is never called nor is the page table marked as a kernel page table. The former results in the folio associated with the page table not being marked as a page table (__pagetable_ctor() is never called thus neither is __folio_set_pgtable()) nor are statistics updated to reflect it (lruvec_stat_add_folio() is never called). The latter issue of failing to mark the page table as a kernel page table (ptdesc_set_kernel() is never called) is far more problematic. Since commit: 5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables") kernel page table freeing has been batched and since the subsequent commit: e37d5a2d60a3 ("iommu/sva: invalidate stale IOTLB entries for kernel address space") IOTLB cache entries for kernel page tables have been invalidated upon being freed. Since split page tables are freed without this invalidation, the IOTLB can contain stale entries for them. Resolve the issue by using the ordinary PTE allocation API at split time. This results in these kernel page tables invoking a page table constructor, and thus requires a page table destructor. Destructors are not always present, like for early allocated direct map page tables). Conditionally call pagetable_dtor_free() if the PG_table folio flag for the ptdesc is set, otherwise we free the page table via pagetable_free(). Regardless of which path is taken page tables marked as kernel page tables, which now includes split page tables, take the correct route through pagetable_free_kernel(). There is a user-visible side effect in that split page tables will appear in nr_page_table_pages in /proc/vmstat (as do other kernel page tables allocated after early boot), however this is a positive change. This issue started being markedly problematic after commit: 5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables") so choose this as the Fixes target. [ dhansen: rephrase in imperative mood ]

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00168 6th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Linux (Linux): 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.18.7 to before 6.18.536.18.53Patch availableCNA
LinuxLinux6.19 and later6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.18.7 to before 6.18.53 Fixed in 6.18.53 Patch available CNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.19 and later Fixed in 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.53
  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

Not affected: 7 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-97525
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-89c6-7qg8-m7m4
  3. 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  4. 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • 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-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel 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
See all 21741 →

Sources