Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm: swap: check for stable address space before operating on the VMA
It is possible to hit a zero entry while traversing the vmas in unuse_mm()
called from swapoff path and accessing it causes the OOPS:
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address
0000000000000446--> Loading the memory from offset 0x40 on the
XA_ZERO_ENTRY as address.
Mem abort info:
ESR = 0x0000000096000005
EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
SET = 0, FnV = 0
EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
FSC = 0x05: level 1 translation fault
The issue is manifested from the below race between the fork() on a
process and swapoff:
fork(dup_mmap()) swapoff(unuse_mm)
--------------- -----------------
1) Identical mtree is built using
__mt_dup().
2) copy_pte_range()-->
copy_nonpresent_pte():
The dst mm is added into the
mmlist to be visible to the
swapoff operation.
3) Fatal signal is sent to the parent
process(which is the current during the
fork) thus skip the duplication of the
vmas and mark the vma range with
XA_ZERO_ENTRY as a marker for this process
that helps during exit_mmap().
4) swapoff is tried on the
'mm' added to the 'mmlist' as
part of the 2.
5) unuse_mm(), that iterates
through the vma's of this 'mm'
will hit the non-NULL zero entry
and operating on this zero entry
as a vma is resulting into the
oops.
The proper fix would be around not exposing this partially-valid tree to
others when droping the mmap lock, which is being solved with [1]. A
simpler solution would be checking for MMF_UNSTABLE, as it is set if
mm_struct is not fully initialized in dup_mmap().
Thanks to Liam/Lorenzo/David for all the suggestions in fixing this
issue.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.8 | 6.12.51 |
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 | 6.16.11-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 6.12.57-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS | linux-bluefield | 6.8.0-1017.21 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux | 6.17.0-6.6 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux-aws +2 | 6.17.0-1003.3 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux-azure | 6.17.0-1006.6 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux-azure-fde | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux-raspi | 6.17.0-1004.4 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux-realtime | 6.17.0-1002.3 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux-riscv | 6.17.0-6.6.1 | — |
| 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-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-riscv +18 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-xilinx | 6.8.0-1028.29 | USN-8261-1 |
| 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 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +32 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +28 | No fix yet | — |
Show 5 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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-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 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | kernel-64kb +7 | 6.12.0-160000.7.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:21147-1 |
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | kernel-default-base | 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:21147-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | kernel-64kb +7 | 6.12.0-160000.7.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:21180-1, SUSE-SU-2025:21147-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | kernel-default-base | 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:21147-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.2 | kernel-default-base | 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:21080-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.2 | kernel-rt +5 | 6.12.0-160000.7.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:20561-1, SUSE-SU-2025:21080-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | kernel-source | 6.17.5-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2025:15671-1 |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | kernel-source-longterm | 6.18.16-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10301-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | kernel-default-base | 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 | openSUSE-SU-2025:20091-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | kernel-rt +10 | 6.12.0-160000.7.1 | openSUSE-SU-2025:20091-1 |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | kernel-livepatch-6.12.53-69.119 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2025-1254 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.12 +14 | 1:6.12.53-69.119.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2025-1254 |
Advisories 19
- USN-8100-1 linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-6.8, linux-nvidia-lowlatency vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 4, 2026
- USN-8165-1 linux-azure-fips vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 4, 2026
- WID-SEC-2025-2298 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8095-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp, linux-gcp-6.8, linux-gke, linux-gkeop, linux-hwe-6.8, linux-ibm, linux-ibm-6.8, linux-lowlatency, linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8, linux-oracle, linux-oracle-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8095-2 linux-fips, linux-aws-fips, linux-gcp-fips vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8126-1 linux-azure-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8095-5 linux-raspi, linux-raspi-realtime vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8125-1 linux-azure vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8095-4 linux-aws-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8095-3 linux-realtime, linux-realtime-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8261-1 linux-xilinx vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Sep 7, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:20561-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jul 9, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2025:20091-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2025:15671-1 kernel-devel-6.17.5-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:21147-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:21080-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:21180-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:10301-1 kernel-devel-longterm-6.18.16-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 8, 2026
- ALAS2023-2025-1254 Important: kernel6.12 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Oct 27, 2025