Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
kfence: fix memory leak when cat kfence objects
Hulk robot reported a kmemleak problem:
unreferenced object 0xffff93d1d8cc02e8 (size 248):
comm "cat", pid 23327, jiffies 4624670141 (age 495992.217s)
hex dump (first 32 bytes):
00 40 85 19 d4 93 ff ff 00 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 .@..............
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
backtrace:
seq_open+0x2a/0x80
full_proxy_open+0x167/0x1e0
do_dentry_open+0x1e1/0x3a0
path_openat+0x961/0xa20
do_filp_open+0xae/0x120
do_sys_openat2+0x216/0x2f0
do_sys_open+0x57/0x80
do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9
unreferenced object 0xffff93d419854000 (size 4096):
comm "cat", pid 23327, jiffies 4624670141 (age 495992.217s)
hex dump (first 32 bytes):
6b 66 65 6e 63 65 2d 23 32 35 30 3a 20 30 78 30 kfence-#250: 0x0
30 30 30 30 30 30 30 37 35 34 62 64 61 31 32 2d 0000000754bda12-
backtrace:
seq_read_iter+0x313/0x440
seq_read+0x14b/0x1a0
full_proxy_read+0x56/0x80
vfs_read+0xa5/0x1b0
ksys_read+0xa0/0xf0
do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9
I find that we can easily reproduce this problem with the following
commands:
cat /sys/kernel/debug/kfence/objects
echo scan > /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak
cat /sys/kernel/debug/kmemleak
The leaked memory is allocated in the stack below:
do_syscall_64
do_sys_open
do_dentry_open
full_proxy_open
seq_open ---> alloc seq_file
vfs_read
full_proxy_read
seq_read
seq_read_iter
traverse ---> alloc seq_buf
And it should have been released in the following process:
do_syscall_64
syscall_exit_to_user_mode
exit_to_user_mode_prepare
task_work_run
____fput
__fput
full_proxy_release ---> free here
However, the release function corresponding to file_operations is not
implemented in kfence. As a result, a memory leak occurs. Therefore,
the solution to this problem is to implement the corresponding release
function.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.12 | 5.15.12 |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 5.15.15-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 5.15.15-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 5.15.15-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +20 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +26 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp +14 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe-edge | No fix yet | — |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP5 | kernel-64kb +5 | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| SLES 15 SP5 | kernel-azure +2 | 5.14.21-150500.33.60.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2372-1 |
| SLES 15 SP5 | kernel-default-base | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1.150500.6.33.8 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| SLES 15 SP5 | kernel-docs | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.2 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLE Micro 5.5 | kernel-default | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.5 | kernel-default-base | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1.150500.6.33.8 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.5 | kernel-rt +1 | 5.14.21-150500.13.61.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2394-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP5 | kernel-default | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP5 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5_Update_17 +1 | 1-150500.11.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1, SUSE-SU-2024:2394-1 |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP5 | kernel-rt +3 | 5.14.21-150500.13.61.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2394-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | dtb-aarch64 +9 | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | kernel-azure +2 | 5.14.21-150500.33.60.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2372-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | kernel-default-base | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1.150500.6.33.8 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | kernel-docs | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.2 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | kernel-rt +3 | 5.14.21-150500.13.61.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2394-1 |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.5 | kernel-default | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.5 | kernel-default-base | 5.14.21-150500.55.73.1.150500.6.33.8 | SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 |
Advisories 4
- WID-SEC-2024-0549 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Jun 1, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2024:2394-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2024:2939-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2024:2372-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026