CVE-2025-40040 Details
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/ksm: fix flag-dropping behavior in ksm_madvise syzkaller discovered the following crash: (kernel BUG) [ 44.607039] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 44.607422] kernel BUG at mm/userfaultfd.c:2067! [ 44.608148] Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC KASAN NOPTI [ 44.608814] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 2475 Comm: reproducer Not tainted 6.16.0-rc6 #1 PREEMPT(none) [ 44.609635] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 44.610695] RIP: 0010:userfaultfd_release_all+0x3a8/0x460 <snip other registers, drop unreliable trace> [ 44.617726] Call Trace: [ 44.617926] <TASK> [ 44.619284] userfaultfd_release+0xef/0x1b0 [ 44.620976] __fput+0x3f9/0xb60 [ 44.621240] fput_close_sync+0x110/0x210 [ 44.622222] __x64_sys_close+0x8f/0x120 [ 44.622530] do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x2f0 [ 44.622840] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e [ 44.623244] RIP: 0033:0x7f365bb3f227 Kernel panics because it detects UFFD inconsistency during userfaultfd_release_all(). Specifically, a VMA which has a valid pointer to vma->vm_userfaultfd_ctx, but no UFFD flags in vma->vm_flags. The inconsistency is caused in ksm_madvise(): when user calls madvise() with MADV_UNMEARGEABLE on a VMA that is registered for UFFD in MINOR mode, it accidentally clears all flags stored in the upper 32 bits of vma->vm_flags. Assuming x86_64 kernel build, unsigned long is 64-bit and unsigned int and int are 32-bit wide. This setup causes the following mishap during the &= ~VM_MERGEABLE assignment. VM_MERGEABLE is a 32-bit constant of type unsigned int, 0x8000'0000. After ~ is applied, it becomes 0x7fff'ffff unsigned int, which is then promoted to unsigned long before the & operation. This promotion fills upper 32 bits with leading 0s, as we're doing unsigned conversion (and even for a signed conversion, this wouldn't help as the leading bit is 0). & operation thus ends up AND-ing vm_flags with 0x0000'0000'7fff'ffff instead of intended 0xffff'ffff'7fff'ffff and hence accidentally clears the upper 32-bits of its value. Fix it by changing `VM_MERGEABLE` constant to unsigned long, using the BIT() macro. Note: other VM_* flags are not affected: This only happens to the VM_MERGEABLE flag, as the other VM_* flags are all constants of type int and after ~ operation, they end up with leading 1 and are thus converted to unsigned long with leading 1s. Note 2: After commit 31defc3b01d9 ("userfaultfd: remove (VM_)BUG_ON()s"), this is no longer a kernel BUG, but a WARNING at the same place: [ 45.595973] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 2474 at mm/userfaultfd.c:2067 but the root-cause (flag-drop) remains the same. [[email protected]: rust bindgen wasn't able to handle BIT(), from Miguel]
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's memory management system, specifically within the KSM (Kernel Samepage Merging) handling, has been identified. This issue arises when the 'madvise' system call is used with the 'MADV_UNMERGEABLE' flag on a virtual memory area (VMA) that is registered for userfaultfd in minor mode. The operation inadvertently clears important flags in the VMA's 'vm_flags', leading to an inconsistency that can cause a kernel panic. The problem is rooted in the way the 'VM_MERGEABLE' flag is handled, as it is a 32-bit constant that, when manipulated, accidentally clears the upper 32 bits of the VMA's flag value. This vulnerability affects Linux kernel versions prior to 6.16.0.
The vulnerability has been addressed by modifying the 'VM_MERGEABLE' constant to be of type unsigned long, using the BIT() macro, which prevents the upper bits from being cleared during bitwise operations. Users should upgrade to Linux kernel versions 6.16.0 or later.
Metrics
CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:
No CVSS 4.0 data is available for this CVE.
CVSS 3.x Severity and Vector Strings:
No data available for CVSS Version 2.0 on this CVE.
No SSVC data is available for this CVE.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
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| URL | Source(s) | Tag(s) |
|---|---|---|
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/41cb9fd904fe0c39d52e82dd84dc3c96b7aa9693 | kernel.org | Patch |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76385629f45740b7888f8fcd83bde955b10f61fe | kernel.org | Patch |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/788e5385d0ff69cdba1cabccb9dab8d9647b9239 | kernel.org | Patch |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/850f1ea245bdc0ce6a3fd36bfb80d8cf9647cb71 | kernel.org | Patch |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92b82e232b8d8b116ac6e57aeae7a6033db92c60 | kernel.org | Patch |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac50c6e0a8f91a02b681af81abb2362fbb67cc18 | kernel.org | Patch |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b69f19244c2b6475c8a6eb72f0fb0d53509e48cd | kernel.org | Patch |
| https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f04aad36a07cc17b7a5d5b9a2d386ce6fae63e93 | kernel.org | Patch |
Weakness Enumeration
| CWE-ID | CWE Name | Source |
|---|---|---|
| NVD-CWE-noinfo | Insufficient Information to Classify Weakness | [email protected] |
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| linux linux kernel | >= 4.6, < 5.4.302 >= 5.5, < 5.10.247 >= 5.11, < 5.15.197 >= 5.16, < 6.1.158 >= 6.2, < 6.6.114 >= 6.7, < 6.12.55 >= 6.13, < 6.17.3 |
CPE
Remediation
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Change History
7 change records found show changes
| Date | Action | Recorded By |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Jun 17, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Feb 26, 2026 | Initial Analysis | [email protected] |
| Jan 26, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Dec 6, 2025 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Oct 29, 2025 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Oct 28, 2025 | New CVE Received | kernel.org |