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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-38029

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.14.9 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kasan: avoid sleepable page allocation from atomic context apply_to_pte_range() enters the lazy MMU mode and then invokes kasan_populate_vmalloc_pte() callback on each page table walk iteration. However, the callback can go into sleep when trying to allocate a single page, e.g. if an architecutre disables preemption on lazy MMU mode enter. On s390 if make arch_enter_lazy_mmu_mode() -> preempt_enable() and arch_leave_lazy_mmu_mode() -> preempt_disable(), such crash occurs: [ 0.663336] BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context at ./include/linux/sched/mm.h:321 [ 0.663348] in_atomic(): 1, irqs_disabled(): 0, non_block: 0, pid: 2, name: kthreadd [ 0.663358] preempt_count: 1, expected: 0 [ 0.663366] RCU nest depth: 0, expected: 0 [ 0.663375] no locks held by kthreadd/2. [ 0.663383] Preemption disabled at: [ 0.663386] [<0002f3284cbb4eda>] apply_to_pte_range+0xfa/0x4a0 [ 0.663405] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 2 Comm: kthreadd Not tainted 6.15.0-rc5-gcc-kasan-00043-gd76bb1ebb558-dirty #162 PREEMPT [ 0.663408] Hardware name: IBM 3931 A01 701 (KVM/Linux) [ 0.663409] Call Trace: [ 0.663410] [<0002f3284c385f58>] dump_stack_lvl+0xe8/0x140 [ 0.663413] [<0002f3284c507b9e>] __might_resched+0x66e/0x700 [ 0.663415] [<0002f3284cc4f6c0>] __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x370/0x4b0 [ 0.663419] [<0002f3284ccc73c0>] alloc_pages_mpol+0x1a0/0x4a0 [ 0.663421] [<0002f3284ccc8518>] alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x88/0xc0 [ 0.663424] [<0002f3284ccc8572>] alloc_pages_noprof+0x22/0x120 [ 0.663427] [<0002f3284cc341ac>] get_free_pages_noprof+0x2c/0xc0 [ 0.663429] [<0002f3284cceba70>] kasan_populate_vmalloc_pte+0x50/0x120 [ 0.663433] [<0002f3284cbb4ef8>] apply_to_pte_range+0x118/0x4a0 [ 0.663435] [<0002f3284cbc7c14>] apply_to_pmd_range+0x194/0x3e0 [ 0.663437] [<0002f3284cbc99be>] __apply_to_page_range+0x2fe/0x7a0 [ 0.663440] [<0002f3284cbc9e88>] apply_to_page_range+0x28/0x40 [ 0.663442] [<0002f3284ccebf12>] kasan_populate_vmalloc+0x82/0xa0 [ 0.663445] [<0002f3284cc1578c>] alloc_vmap_area+0x34c/0xc10 [ 0.663448] [<0002f3284cc1c2a6>] __get_vm_area_node+0x186/0x2a0 [ 0.663451] [<0002f3284cc1e696>] __vmalloc_node_range_noprof+0x116/0x310 [ 0.663454] [<0002f3284cc1d950>] __vmalloc_node_noprof+0xd0/0x110 [ 0.663457] [<0002f3284c454b88>] alloc_thread_stack_node+0xf8/0x330 [ 0.663460] [<0002f3284c458d56>] dup_task_struct+0x66/0x4d0 [ 0.663463] [<0002f3284c45be90>] copy_process+0x280/0x4b90 [ 0.663465] [<0002f3284c460940>] kernel_clone+0xd0/0x4b0 [ 0.663467] [<0002f3284c46115e>] kernel_thread+0xbe/0xe0 [ 0.663469] [<0002f3284c4e440e>] kthreadd+0x50e/0x7f0 [ 0.663472] [<0002f3284c38c04a>] __ret_from_fork+0x8a/0xf0 [ 0.663475] [<0002f3284ed57ff2>] ret_from_fork+0xa/0x38 Instead of allocating single pages per-PTE, bulk-allocate the shadow memory prior to applying kasan_populate_vmalloc_pte() callback on a page range.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.5, < 6.14.9= 6.15

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.14.9 or later
Fixed in 6.14.9
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.14.9 or later, or 6.16+

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.14.9 or later, or to version 6.16 or later if 6.14.9 is not available for your distribution
  2. Ensure the upgrade is performed using your distribution's standard kernel upgrade procedure (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-* for Debian/Ubuntu, yum/dnf update for RHEL/Fedora, or zypper update for SUSE)
  3. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  4. Verify the running kernel version matches the expected fixed version using 'uname -r'
Caveat Kernel upgrades may introduce regressions; test in a staging environment before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

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