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Medium · 5.5 CVE-2021-47632 EUVD-2021-34672GHSA-68j8-p6jf-3m4x

powerpc/set_memory: Avoid spinlock recursion in change_page_attr()

Published Feb 26, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.15 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-intel-iotg Package: linux-intel-iotg-5.15 Package: linux-kvm Package: linux-lowlatency Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

powerpc/set_memory: Avoid spinlock recursion in change_page_attr()

Commit 1f9ad21c3b38 ("powerpc/mm: Implement set_memory() routines")
included a spin_lock() to change_page_attr() in order to
safely perform the three step operations. But then
commit 9f7853d7609d ("powerpc/mm: Fix set_memory_*() against
concurrent accesses") modify it to use pte_update() and do
the operation safely against concurrent access.

In the meantime, Maxime reported some spinlock recursion.

[ 15.351649] BUG: spinlock recursion on CPU#0, kworker/0:2/217
[ 15.357540] lock: init_mm+0x3c/0x420, .magic: dead4ead, .owner: kworker/0:2/217, .owner_cpu: 0
[ 15.366563] CPU: 0 PID: 217 Comm: kworker/0:2 Not tainted 5.15.0+ #523
[ 15.373350] Workqueue: events do_free_init
[ 15.377615] Call Trace:
[ 15.380232] [e4105ac0] [800946a4] do_raw_spin_lock+0xf8/0x120 (unreliable)
[ 15.387340] [e4105ae0] [8001f4ec] change_page_attr+0x40/0x1d4
[ 15.393413] [e4105b10] [801424e0] __apply_to_page_range+0x164/0x310
[ 15.400009] [e4105b60] [80169620] free_pcp_prepare+0x1e4/0x4a0
[ 15.406045] [e4105ba0] [8016c5a0] free_unref_page+0x40/0x2b8
[ 15.411979] [e4105be0] [8018724c] kasan_depopulate_vmalloc_pte+0x6c/0x94
[ 15.418989] [e4105c00] [801424e0] __apply_to_page_range+0x164/0x310
[ 15.425451] [e4105c50] [80187834] kasan_release_vmalloc+0xbc/0x134
[ 15.431898] [e4105c70] [8015f7a8] __purge_vmap_area_lazy+0x4e4/0xdd8
[ 15.438560] [e4105d30] [80160d10] _vm_unmap_aliases.part.0+0x17c/0x24c
[ 15.445283] [e4105d60] [801642d0] __vunmap+0x2f0/0x5c8
[ 15.450684] [e4105db0] [800e32d0] do_free_init+0x68/0x94
[ 15.456181] [e4105dd0] [8005d094] process_one_work+0x4bc/0x7b8
[ 15.462283] [e4105e90] [8005d614] worker_thread+0x284/0x6e8
[ 15.468227] [e4105f00] [8006aaec] kthread+0x1f0/0x210
[ 15.473489] [e4105f40] [80017148] ret_from_kernel_thread+0x14/0x1c

Remove the read / modify / write sequence to make the operation atomic
and remove the spin_lock() in change_page_attr().

To do the operation atomically, we can't use pte modification helpers
anymore. Because all platforms have different combination of bits, it
is not easy to use those bits directly. But all have the
_PAGE_KERNEL_{RO/ROX/RW/RWX} set of flags. All we need it to compare
two sets to know which bits are set or cleared.

For instance, by comparing _PAGE_KERNEL_ROX and _PAGE_KERNEL_RO you
know which bit gets cleared and which bit get set when changing exec
permission.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.14 5.15.34

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 5.17.3-1 —
Debian 13 linux 5.17.3-1 —
Debian 12 linux 5.17.3-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux +1 5.15.0-37.39 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws 5.15.0-1011.14 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure 5.15.0-1010.12 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp 5.15.0-1008.12 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gke 5.15.0-1008.10 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm 5.15.0-1007.8 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg 5.15.0-1008.11 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-kvm 5.15.0-1010.11 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle 5.15.0-1009.12 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-raspi 5.15.0-1011.13 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-azure-5.15 5.15.0-1008.9~20.04.1 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-41.44~20.04.1 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 5.15.0-1008.11~20.04.1 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 5.15.0-42.45~20.04.1 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime 5.15.0-1014.14 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP5 kernel-64kb +6 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLES 15 SP5 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1.150500.6.47.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLES 15 SP4 kernel-64kb +6 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLES 15 SP4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1.150400.24.78.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
Show 11 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 15 SP5 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1.150500.6.47.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP5 kernel-docs +4 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1.150400.24.78.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP4 kernel-docs +4 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE Micro 5.5 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1.150500.6.47.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLE Micro 5.5 kernel-rt +1 5.14.21-150500.13.91.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1176-1
SLE Micro 5.5 kernel-source +1 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLE Micro 5.4 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE Micro 5.4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1.150400.24.78.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE Micro 5.4 kernel-rt +1 5.14.21-150400.15.115.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1183-1
SLE Micro 5.3 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE Micro 5.3 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1.150400.24.78.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE Micro 5.3 kernel-rt +1 5.14.21-150400.15.115.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1183-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-default 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5_Update_25 1-150500.11.3.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP4 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP4 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP4_Update_38 1-150400.9.3.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE HPC 15 SP5 kernel-64kb +5 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLE HPC 15 SP5 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150500.55.100.1.150500.6.47.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1241-1
SLE HPC 15 SP4 kernel-64kb +5 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SLE HPC 15 SP4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1.150400.24.78.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SUSE Manager Server 4.3 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1.150400.24.78.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SUSE Manager Server 4.3 kernel-syms +3 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1.150400.24.78.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 kernel-syms +2 5.14.21-150400.24.158.1 SUSE-SU-2025:1027-1

Advisories 4

References