Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/huge_memory: fix use of NULL folio in move_pages_huge_pmd()
move_pages_huge_pmd() handles UFFDIO_MOVE for both normal THPs and huge
zero pages. For the huge zero page path, src_folio is explicitly set to
NULL, and is used as a sentinel to skip folio operations like lock and
rmap.
In the huge zero page branch, src_folio is NULL, so folio_mk_pmd(NULL,
pgprot) passes NULL through folio_pfn() and page_to_pfn(). With
SPARSEMEM_VMEMMAP this silently produces a bogus PFN, installing a PMD
pointing to non-existent physical memory. On other memory models it is a
NULL dereference.
Use page_folio(src_page) to obtain the valid huge zero folio from the
page, which was obtained from pmd_page() and remains valid throughout.
After commit d82d09e48219 ("mm/huge_memory: mark PMD mappings of the huge
zero folio special"), moved huge zero PMDs must remain special so
vm_normal_page_pmd() continues to treat them as special mappings.
move_pages_huge_pmd() currently reconstructs the destination PMD in the
huge zero page branch, which drops PMD state such as pmd_special() on
architectures with CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_PTE_SPECIAL. As a result,
vm_normal_page_pmd() can treat the moved huge zero PMD as a normal page
and corrupt its refcount.
Instead of reconstructing the PMD from the folio, derive the destination
entry from src_pmdval after pmdp_huge_clear_flush(), then handle the PMD
metadata the same way move_huge_pmd() does for moved entries by marking it
soft-dirty and clearing uffd-wp.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.16 | 6.18.20 |
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 | 6.19.10-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux +8 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv +23 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +32 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +28 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp +14 | No fix yet | — |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe-edge | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-realtime-6.14 +1 | No fix yet | — |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-1596 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.18 +14 | 1:6.18.20-20.229.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-1596 |
Advisories 2
- WID-SEC-2026-0985 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 10, 2026
- ALAS2023-2026-1596 Important: kernel6.18 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Jun 16, 2026