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Medium · 5.5 CVE-2025-39886 EUVD-2025-30852GHSA-6wfv-64f3-9h2q

bpf: Tell memcg to use allow_spinning=false path in bpf_timer_init()

Published Sep 23, 2025 · Updated Oct 30, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: kernel 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-5.15 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-6.8 Package: linux-aws-fips 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-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-6.8 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.15 Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.8 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-azure-nvidia Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-6.8 Package: linux-gcp-fips 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-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-ibm-5.15 Package: linux-ibm-6.8 Package: linux-intel 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-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.8 Package: linux-nvidia-lowlatency Package: linux-nvidia-tegra Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 Package: linux-nvidia-tegra-igx 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-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.15 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-6.8 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.8 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.15 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-6.8 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Package: linux-xilinx Package: linux-xilinx-zynqmp Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Azure Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

bpf: Tell memcg to use allow_spinning=false path in bpf_timer_init()

Currently, calling bpf_map_kmalloc_node() from __bpf_async_init() can
cause various locking issues; see the following stack trace (edited for
style) as one example:

...
[10.011566] do_raw_spin_lock.cold
[10.011570] try_to_wake_up (5) double-acquiring the same
[10.011575] kick_pool rq_lock, causing a hardlockup
[10.011579] __queue_work
[10.011582] queue_work_on
[10.011585] kernfs_notify
[10.011589] cgroup_file_notify
[10.011593] try_charge_memcg (4) memcg accounting raises an
[10.011597] obj_cgroup_charge_pages MEMCG_MAX event
[10.011599] obj_cgroup_charge_account
[10.011600] __memcg_slab_post_alloc_hook
[10.011603] __kmalloc_node_noprof
...
[10.011611] bpf_map_kmalloc_node
[10.011612] __bpf_async_init
[10.011615] bpf_timer_init (3) BPF calls bpf_timer_init()
[10.011617] bpf_prog_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_fcg_runnable
[10.011619] bpf__sched_ext_ops_runnable
[10.011620] enqueue_task_scx (2) BPF runs with rq_lock held
[10.011622] enqueue_task
[10.011626] ttwu_do_activate
[10.011629] sched_ttwu_pending (1) grabs rq_lock
...

The above was reproduced on bpf-next (b338cf849ec8) by modifying
./tools/sched_ext/scx_flatcg.bpf.c to call bpf_timer_init() during
ops.runnable(), and hacking the memcg accounting code a bit to make
a bpf_timer_init() call more likely to raise an MEMCG_MAX event.

We have also run into other similar variants (both internally and on
bpf-next), including double-acquiring cgroup_file_kn_lock, the same
worker_pool::lock, etc.

As suggested by Shakeel, fix this by using __GFP_HIGH instead of
GFP_ATOMIC in __bpf_async_init(), so that e.g. if try_charge_memcg()
raises an MEMCG_MAX event, we call __memcg_memory_event() with
@allow_spinning=false and avoid calling cgroup_file_notify() there.

Depends on mm patch
"memcg: skip cgroup_file_notify if spinning is not allowed":
https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250905201606.66198-1-shakeel.butt@linux.dev/

v0 approach s/bpf_map_kmalloc_node/bpf_mem_alloc/
https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250905061919.439648-1-yepeilin@google.com/
v1 approach:
https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250905234547.862249-1-yepeilin@google.com/

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.15 6.1.191

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 6.16.8-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.12.48-1 —
Debian 12 linux No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS linux-bluefield 6.8.0-1017.21 —
Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 22.04 LTS linux-bluefield No fix yet —
Ubuntu 25.10 linux-azure-fde No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux 6.8.0-106.106 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws 6.8.0-1050.53 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure 6.8.0-1051.57 USN-8125-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 6.8.0-1058.65 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-nvidia 6.8.0-1039.42 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gcp 6.8.0-1052.55 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gke 6.8.0-1048.53 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-gkeop 6.8.0-1035.38 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-ibm 6.8.0-1049.49 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-intel +19 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-lowlatency 6.8.0-106.106.1 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia 6.8.0-1049.52 USN-8100-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 6.8.0-1049.52.1 USN-8100-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-tegra 6.8.0-1020.20 —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle 6.8.0-1047.48 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi 6.8.0-1050.54 USN-8095-5
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-xilinx 6.8.0-1028.29 USN-8261-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux +49 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-aws-6.8 6.8.0-1050.53~22.04.1 USN-8095-4
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-6.8 6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1 USN-8126-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-6.8 6.8.0-1058.65~22.04.1 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-gcp-6.8 6.8.0-1052.55~22.04.1 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-hwe-6.8 +1 6.8.0-106.106~22.04.1 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-ibm-6.8 6.8.0-1049.49~22.04.1 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 6.8.0-106.106.1~22.04.1 USN-8095-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 6.8.0-1049.52~22.04.1 USN-8100-1
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-oracle-6.8 6.8.0-1047.48~22.04.1 USN-8095-1
Show 9 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime 6.8.0-2040.41 USN-8095-5
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime 6.8.1-1045.46 USN-8095-3
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.8 6.8.1-1045.46~22.04.1 USN-8095-3
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 6.8.0-1050.53+fips1 USN-8095-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 6.8.0-1052.58+fips1 USN-8165-1
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-fips 6.8.0-106.106+fips1 USN-8095-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 6.8.0-1052.55+fips1 USN-8095-2
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-preview 22.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS linux-aws-5.15 +10 No fix yet —

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.12.48-67.114 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2025-1227
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.12 +14 1:6.12.48-67.114.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2025-1227

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 kernel 6.6.112.1-1 —
Azure Linux 2 (CBL-Mariner) kernel No fix yet —

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 9 kernel-uek +34 6.12.0-105.51.5.el10uek ELSA-2025-25754

Advisories 13

References