In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/vma: add give_up_on_oom option on modify/merge, use in uffd release
Currently, if a VMA merge fails due to an OOM condition arising on commit merge or a failure to duplicate anon_vma's, we report this so the caller can handle it.
However there are cases where the caller is only ostensibly trying a merge, and doesn't mind if it fails due to this condition.
Since we do not want to introduce an implicit assumption that we only actually modify VMAs after OOM conditions might arise, add a 'give up on oom' option and make an explicit contract that, should this flag be set, we absolutely will not modify any VMAs should OOM arise and just bail out.
Since it'd be very unusual for a user to try to vma_modify() with this flag set but be specifying a range within a VMA which ends up being split (which can fail due to rlimit issues, not only OOM), we add a debug warning for this condition.
The motivating reason for this is uffd release - syzkaller (and Pedro Falcato's VERY astute analysis) found a way in which an injected fault on allocation, triggering an OOM condition on commit merge, would result in uffd code becoming confused and treating an error value as if it were a VMA pointer.
To avoid this, we make use of this new VMG flag to ensure that this never occurs, utilising the fact that, should we be clearing entire VMAs, we do not wish an OOM event to be reported to us.
Many thanks to Pedro Falcato for his excellent analysis and Jann Horn for his insightful and intelligent analysis of the situation, both of whom were instrumental in this fix.
CVSS Details
- CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 5.5
- CVSS 3.1 Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)
Covered by Rapid7
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon_linux_2023 | — | Upgrade kernel6.12-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade kernel6.12-modules-extraUpgrade kernel-modules-extra-commonUpgrade perf6.12Upgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade kernel-libbpf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel6.12Upgrade kernel-libbpf-develUpgrade kernel-libbpf-staticUpgrade kernel6.12-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade perf6.12-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-livepatch-6.12.25-32.101Upgrade python3-perf6.12Upgrade kernel6.12-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade kernel-libbpfUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade python3-perf6.12-debuginfo | Aug 5, 2025 | May 1, 2025 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Jul 23, 2026 | Jul 23, 2026 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Jul 9, 2025 | May 1, 2025 |
| Suse | — | Upgrade kernel-default-extraUpgrade kernel-azure-extraUpgrade kernel-docs-htmlUpgrade kernel-zfcpdumpUpgrade kernel-64kbUpgrade kernel-64kb-develUpgrade kernel-obs-qaUpgrade kernel-source-azureUpgrade kernel-symsUpgrade kernel-kvmsmall-develUpgrade kernel-default-livepatchUpgrade kernel-default-develUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-kvmsmall-vdsoUpgrade kernel-azureUpgrade kernel-sourceUpgrade kernel-devel-azureUpgrade kernel-64kb-extraUpgrade kernel-defaultUpgrade kernel-kvmsmallUpgrade kernel-docsUpgrade kernel-source-vanillaUpgrade kernel-azure-vdsoUpgrade kernel-azure-develUpgrade kernel-default-vdsoUpgrade kernel-macros | Dec 5, 2025 | Dec 5, 2025 |
| Ubuntu | — | Upgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-azure-fdeUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-oracle-64kUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-oracleUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-azureUpgrade linux-image-raspiUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-22-genericUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1008-gcp-64kUpgrade linux-image-awsUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1008-gcpUpgrade linux-image-realtimeUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-raspiUpgrade linux-image-azureUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-22-generic-64kUpgrade linux-image-gcp-64kUpgrade linux-image-genericUpgrade linux-image-azure-fdeUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-aws-64kUpgrade linux-image-oracle-64kUpgrade linux-image-aws-64kUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-awsUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1004-realtimeUpgrade linux-image-generic-64kUpgrade linux-image-oracleUpgrade linux-image-gcp | Jun 26, 2025 | May 1, 2025 |
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