Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
cpu/hotplug: Fix NULL kobject warning in cpuhp_smt_enable()
On arm64, when booting with `maxcpus` greater than the number of present
CPUs (e.g., QEMU -smp cpus=4,maxcpus=8), some CPUs are marked as 'present'
but have not yet been registered via register_cpu(). Consequently,
the per-cpu device objects for these CPUs are not yet initialized.
In cpuhp_smt_enable(), the code iterates over all present CPUs. Calling
_cpu_up() for these unregistered CPUs eventually leads to
sysfs_create_group() being called with a NULL kobject (or a kobject
without a directory), triggering the following warning in
fs/sysfs/group.c:
WARNING: fs/sysfs/group.c:137 at internal_create_group+0x41c/0x4bc, CPU#2: sh/181
[...]
Call trace:
internal_create_group+0x41c/0x4bc (P)
sysfs_create_group+0x18/0x24
topology_add_dev+0x1c/0x28
cpuhp_invoke_callback+0x104/0x20c
__cpuhp_invoke_callback_range+0x94/0x11c
_cpu_up+0x200/0x37c
When booting with ACPI, arm64 smp_prepare_cpus() currently sets all
enumerated CPUs as "present" regardless of their status in the MADT. This
causes issues with SMT hotplug control. For instance, with QEMU's
"-smp 4,maxcpus=8" configuration, the MADT GICC entries are populated as
follows:
1. The first four CPUs: `Enabled` set but `Online Capable` not set.
2. The remaining four CPUs: `Online Capable` set but `Enabled` not set
to support potential hot-plugging.
Fix this by:
1. When booting with ACPI, checking the ACPI_MADT_ENABLED flag in the GICC
entry before calling set_cpu_present() during SMP initialization.
2. Properly managing the present mask in acpi_map_cpu() and
acpi_unmap_cpu() to support actual CPU hotplug events, This aligns with
other architectures like x86 and LoongArch.
3. Update the arm64 CPU hotplug documentation to no longer state that all
online-capable vCPUs are marked as present by the kernel at boot time.
This ensures that only physically available or explicitly enabled CPUs
are in the present mask, keeping the SMT control logic consistent with
the actual hardware state.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.15 | 6.18.40 |
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 | 7.1.5-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux | 7.0.0-38.38 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-aws +1 | 7.0.0-1014.14 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-azure | 7.0.0-1017.17 | USN-8888-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde | 7.0.0-1016.16 | USN-8888-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-gke | 7.0.0-1008.9 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-ibm +1 | 7.0.0-1015.15 | USN-8889-1, USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-nvidia +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-bos | 7.0.0-2022.23 | USN-9003-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-oracle | 7.0.0-1013.13 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 7.0.0-1023.23 | USN-9021-1 |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | linux-riscv +1 | 7.0.0-38.38.1 | USN-8887-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws-7.0 +1 | 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1 | USN-8887-3, USN-8887-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-7.0 | 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1 | USN-8888-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde-7.0 | 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 | USN-8888-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-hwe-7.0 | 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4 | USN-8887-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-7.0 | 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1 | USN-9003-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-oracle-7.0 | 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 | USN-8887-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv +27 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv-7.0 | 7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1 | — |
| 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-6.18.41-94.142 | 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-2071 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.18 +12 | 1:6.18.41-94.142.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2026-2071 |
Advisories 10
- WID-SEC-2026-2852 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 11, 2026
- USN-9021-1 linux-raspi vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 11, 2026
- USN-8887-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp, linux-gke, linux-ibm, linux-oracle, linux-realtime vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- USN-9003-1 linux-nvidia-7.0, linux-nvidia-bos vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- USN-8888-2 linux-azure-7.0, linux-azure-fde-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- USN-8889-1 linux-oem-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- USN-8887-3 linux-gcp-7.0, linux-hwe-7.0, linux-oracle-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- USN-8887-2 linux-aws-7.0 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- USN-8888-1 linux-azure, linux-azure-fde vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 9, 2026
- ALAS2023-2026-2071 Important: kernel6.18 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Sep 15, 2026