Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/slub: avoid zeroing outside-object freepointer for single free
Commit 284f17ac13fe ("mm/slub: handle bulk and single object freeing
separately") splits single and bulk object freeing in two functions
slab_free() and slab_free_bulk() which leads slab_free() to call
slab_free_hook() directly instead of slab_free_freelist_hook().
If `init_on_free` is set, slab_free_hook() zeroes the object.
Afterward, if `slub_debug=F` and `CONFIG_SLAB_FREELIST_HARDENED` are
set, the do_slab_free() slowpath executes freelist consistency
checks and try to decode a zeroed freepointer which leads to a
"Freepointer corrupt" detection in check_object().
During bulk free, slab_free_freelist_hook() isn't affected as it always
sets it objects freepointer using set_freepointer() to maintain its
reconstructed freelist after `init_on_free`.
For single free, object's freepointer thus needs to be avoided when
stored outside the object if `init_on_free` is set. The freepointer left
as is, check_object() may later detect an invalid pointer value due to
objects overflow.
To reproduce, set `slub_debug=FU init_on_free=1 log_level=7` on the
command line of a kernel build with `CONFIG_SLAB_FREELIST_HARDENED=y`.
dmesg sample log:
[ 10.708715] =============================================================================
[ 10.710323] BUG kmalloc-rnd-05-32 (Tainted: G B T ): Freepointer corrupt
[ 10.712695] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ 10.712695]
[ 10.712695] Slab 0xffffd8bdc400d580 objects=32 used=4 fp=0xffff9d9a80356f80 flags=0x200000000000a00(workingset|slab|node=0|zone=2)
[ 10.716698] Object 0xffff9d9a80356600 @offset=1536 fp=0x7ee4f480ce0ecd7c
[ 10.716698]
[ 10.716698] Bytes b4 ffff9d9a803565f0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
[ 10.720703] Object ffff9d9a80356600: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
[ 10.720703] Object ffff9d9a80356610: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
[ 10.724696] Padding ffff9d9a8035666c: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
[ 10.724696] Padding ffff9d9a8035667c: 00 00 00 00 ....
[ 10.724696] FIX kmalloc-rnd-05-32: Object at 0xffff9d9a80356600 not freed
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.8 | 6.8.10 |
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 | 6.8.11-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 6.8.11-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux | 6.8.0-40.40 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws | 6.8.0-1013.14 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure | 6.8.0-1012.14 | USN-6952-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gcp | 6.8.0-1012.13 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gke | 6.8.0-1008.11 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-ibm +2 | 6.8.0-1010.10 | USN-6955-1, USN-6952-1, USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia | 6.8.0-1011.11 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-lowlatency | 6.8.0-1011.11.1 | USN-6952-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 6.8.0-1009.10 | USN-6949-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv +1 | 6.8.0-40.40.1 | USN-6949-2 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-aws-6.8 | 6.8.0-1013.14~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-azure-6.8 | 6.8.0-1012.14~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-gcp-6.8 | 6.8.0-1012.13~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-hwe-6.8 | 6.8.0-40.40~22.04.3 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-6.8 | 6.8.0-1011.11~22.04.1 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-oracle-6.8 | 6.8.0-1010.10~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +22 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv-6.8 +1 | 6.8.0-40.40.1~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +26 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp +13 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe-edge | No fix yet | — |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | 6.8.0-2008.8 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-realtime | 6.8.1-1006.6 | — |
Advisories 6
- USN-6955-1 linux-oem-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6952-2 linux-azure vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6952-1 linux-nvidia-lowlatency, linux-oracle vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6949-2 linux-lowlatency, linux-raspi vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6949-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp, linux-gke, linux-ibm, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- WID-SEC-2024-1259 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Denial of Service und unspezifischen Angriff BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 7, 2026