In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ring-buffer: Fix deadloop issue on reading trace_pipe
Soft lockup occurs when reading file 'trace_pipe':
watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#6 stuck for 22s! [cat:4488] [...] RIP: 0010:ring_buffer_empty_cpu+0xed/0x170 RSP: 0018:ffff88810dd6fc48 EFLAGS: 00000246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000246 RCX: ffffffff93d1aaeb RDX: ffff88810a280040 RSI: 0000000000000008 RDI: ffff88811164b218 RBP: ffff88811164b218 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff88815156600f R10: ffffed102a2acc01 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: 0000000051651901 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff888115e49500 R15: 0000000000000000 [...] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f8d853c2000 CR3: 000000010dcd8000 CR4: 00000000000006e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: __find_next_entry+0x1a8/0x4b0 ? peek_next_entry+0x250/0x250 ? down_write+0xa5/0x120 ? down_write_killable+0x130/0x130 trace_find_next_entry_inc+0x3b/0x1d0 tracing_read_pipe+0x423/0xae0 ? tracing_splice_read_pipe+0xcb0/0xcb0 vfs_read+0x16b/0x490 ksys_read+0x105/0x210 ? __ia32_sys_pwrite64+0x200/0x200 ? switch_fpu_return+0x108/0x220 do_syscall_64+0x33/0x40 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x61/0xc6
Through the vmcore, I found it's because in tracing_read_pipe(), ring_buffer_empty_cpu() found some buffer is not empty but then it cannot read anything due to "rb_num_of_entries() == 0" always true, Then it infinitely loop the procedure due to user buffer not been filled, see following code path:
tracing_read_pipe() { ... ... waitagain: tracing_wait_pipe() // 1. find non-empty buffer here trace_find_next_entry_inc() // 2. loop here try to find an entry __find_next_entry() ring_buffer_empty_cpu(); // 3. find non-empty buffer peek_next_entry() // 4. but peek always return NULL ring_buffer_peek() rb_buffer_peek() rb_get_reader_page() // 5. because rb_num_of_entries() == 0 always true here // then return NULL // 6. user buffer not been filled so goto 'waitgain' // and eventually leads to an deadloop in kernel!!! }
By some analyzing, I found that when resetting ringbuffer, the 'entries' of its pages are not all cleared (see rb_reset_cpu()). Then when reducing the ringbuffer, and if some reduced pages exist dirty 'entries' data, they will be added into 'cpu_buffer->overrun' (see rb_remove_pages()), which cause wrong 'overrun' count and eventually cause the deadloop issue.
To fix it, we need to clear every pages in rb_reset_cpu().
CVSS Details
- CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 7.1
- CVSS 3.1 Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H)
Covered by Rapid7
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux Ami 2 | — | Upgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade perfUpgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-livepatch-5.10.192-182.736Upgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade kernel-livepatch-5.15.122-77.145Upgrade python-perfUpgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade python-perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-livepatch-4.14.322-244.536Upgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-headers | May 20, 2026 | May 20, 2026 |
| Amazon_linux_2023 | — | Upgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade kernel-libbpfUpgrade kernel-libbpf-develUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade perfUpgrade kernel-livepatch-6.1.41-63.109Upgrade python3-perf-debuginfoUpgrade python3-perfUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernel-libbpf-static | Oct 24, 2025 | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Oct 9, 2025 | Oct 9, 2025 |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp13 | — | Upgrade kernel-abi-stablelistsUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade kernelUpgrade python3-perfUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernel-tools-libs | Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 11, 2025 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Jul 17, 2026 | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Ubuntu | — | Upgrade linux-raspiUpgrade linux-azureUpgrade linux-intel-iotg-5.15Upgrade linux-raspi-5.4Upgrade linux-azure-5.4Upgrade linux-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-hwe-5.4Upgrade linuxUpgrade linux-ibm-5.4Upgrade linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-ibmUpgrade linux-aws-fipsUpgrade linux-bluefieldUpgrade linux-awsUpgrade linux-gcp-fipsUpgrade linux-iotUpgrade linux-nvidia-tegraUpgrade linux-aws-5.4Upgrade linux-intel-iot-realtimeUpgrade linux-fipsUpgrade linux-realtimeUpgrade linux-gkeopUpgrade linux-ibm-5.15Upgrade linux-gcp-5.4Upgrade linux-oracleUpgrade linux-oracle-5.4Upgrade linux-xilinx-zynqmpUpgrade linux-nvidiaUpgrade linux-intel-iotgUpgrade linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15Upgrade linux-azure-5.15Upgrade linux-gcp-5.15Upgrade linux-kvmUpgrade linux-gkeUpgrade linux-oracle-5.15Upgrade linux-azure-fipsUpgrade linux-aws-5.15Upgrade linux-lowlatencyUpgrade linux-gcpUpgrade linux-nvidia-tegra-igxUpgrade linux-riscv-5.15 | Oct 10, 2025 | Oct 7, 2025 |
| Vmware Photon_os | — | Use 'tdnf update' to upgrade all packages to the latest version. | Oct 15, 2025 | Oct 7, 2025 |
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