Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-39845

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-09-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.192 / 6.1.151 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: x86/mm/64: define ARCH_PAGE_TABLE_SYNC_MASK and arch_sync_kernel_mappings() Define ARCH_PAGE_TABLE_SYNC_MASK and arch_sync_kernel_mappings() to ensure page tables are properly synchronized when calling p*d_populate_kernel(). For 5-level paging, synchronization is performed via pgd_populate_kernel(). In 4-level paging, pgd_populate() is a no-op, so synchronization is instead performed at the P4D level via p4d_populate_kernel(). This fixes intermittent boot failures on systems using 4-level paging and a large amount of persistent memory: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffe70000000034 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP NOPTI RIP: 0010:__init_single_page+0x9/0x6d Call Trace: <TASK> __init_zone_device_page+0x17/0x5d memmap_init_zone_device+0x154/0x1bb pagemap_range+0x2e0/0x40f memremap_pages+0x10b/0x2f0 devm_memremap_pages+0x1e/0x60 dev_dax_probe+0xce/0x2ec [device_dax] dax_bus_probe+0x6d/0xc9 [... snip ...] </TASK> It also fixes a crash in vmemmap_set_pmd() caused by accessing vmemmap before sync_global_pgds() [1]: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffeb3ff1200000 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0002 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI Tainted: [W]=WARN RIP: 0010:vmemmap_set_pmd+0xff/0x230 <TASK> vmemmap_populate_hugepages+0x176/0x180 vmemmap_populate+0x34/0x80 __populate_section_memmap+0x41/0x90 sparse_add_section+0x121/0x3e0 __add_pages+0xba/0x150 add_pages+0x1d/0x70 memremap_pages+0x3dc/0x810 devm_memremap_pages+0x1c/0x60 xe_devm_add+0x8b/0x100 [xe] xe_tile_init_noalloc+0x6a/0x70 [xe] xe_device_probe+0x48c/0x740 [xe] [... snip ...]

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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:>= 5.13, < 5.15.192>= 5.16, < 6.1.151>= 6.2, < 6.6.105>= 6.7, < 6.12.46>= 6.13, < 6.16.6= 6.17
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0

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 5.15.192 / 6.1.151 / 6.6.105 or later
Fixed in 5.15.1926.1.1516.6.105
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Minimum fixed versions: 5.15.192, 6.1.151, 6.6.105, or 6.12.46 depending on kernel branch in use

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which kernel branch you are using (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.6.x, 6.7.x, or 6.12.x)
  3. For systems running 5.15.x: upgrade to kernel version 5.15.192 or later
  4. For systems running 6.1.x: upgrade to kernel version 6.1.151 or later
  5. For systems running 6.6.x: upgrade to kernel version 6.6.105 or later
  6. For systems running 6.7.x through 6.12.x: upgrade to kernel version 6.12.46 or later
  7. Debian 11 (bullseye) users: upgrade to a kernel version containing the fix or apply Debian security updates
  8. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel module builds; ensure associated drivers/modules are compatible with the new kernel version before upgrading production systems

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

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-39845 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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