In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
powerpc: Don't try to copy PPR for task with NULL pt_regs
powerpc sets up PF_KTHREAD and PF_IO_WORKER with a NULL pt_regs, which from my (arguably very short) checking is not commonly done for other archs. This is fine, except when PF_IO_WORKER's have been created and the task does something that causes a coredump to be generated. Then we get this crash:
Kernel attempted to read user page (160) - exploit attempt? (uid: 1000) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000160 Faulting instruction address: 0xc0000000000c3a60 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Radix SMP NR_CPUS=32 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: bochs drm_vram_helper drm_kms_helper xts binfmt_misc ecb ctr syscopyarea sysfillrect cbc sysimgblt drm_ttm_helper aes_generic ttm sg libaes evdev joydev virtio_balloon vmx_crypto gf128mul drm dm_mod fuse loop configfs drm_panel_orientation_quirks ip_tables x_tables autofs4 hid_generic usbhid hid xhci_pci xhci_hcd usbcore usb_common sd_mod CPU: 1 PID: 1982 Comm: ppc-crash Not tainted 6.3.0-rc2+ #88 Hardware name: IBM pSeries (emulated by qemu) POWER9 (raw) 0x4e1202 0xf000005 of:SLOF,HEAD hv:linux,kvm pSeries NIP: c0000000000c3a60 LR: c000000000039944 CTR: c0000000000398e0 REGS: c0000000041833b0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (6.3.0-rc2+) MSR: 800000000280b033 <SF,VEC,VSX,EE,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 88082828 XER: 200400f8 ... NIP memcpy_power7+0x200/0x7d0 LR ppr_get+0x64/0xb0 Call Trace: ppr_get+0x40/0xb0 (unreliable) __regset_get+0x180/0x1f0 regset_get_alloc+0x64/0x90 elf_core_dump+0xb98/0x1b60 do_coredump+0x1c34/0x24a0 get_signal+0x71c/0x1410 do_notify_resume+0x140/0x6f0 interrupt_exit_user_prepare_main+0x29c/0x320 interrupt_exit_user_prepare+0x6c/0xa0 interrupt_return_srr_user+0x8/0x138
Because ppr_get() is trying to copy from a PF_IO_WORKER with a NULL pt_regs.
Check for a valid pt_regs in both ppc_get/ppr_set, and return an error if not set. The actual error value doesn't seem to be important here, so just pick -EINVAL.
[mpe: Trim oops in change log, add Fixes & Cc stable]
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Sep 18, 2025 | Sep 18, 2025 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Jul 17, 2026 | Sep 16, 2025 |
| Ubuntu | — | Upgrade linux-xilinx-zynqmpUpgrade linux-gkeopUpgrade linux-azure-5.15Upgrade linux-ibmUpgrade linux-kvmUpgrade linux-gcpUpgrade linux-oracleUpgrade linux-intel-iotg-5.15Upgrade linux-intel-iot-realtimeUpgrade linux-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-azureUpgrade linux-nvidia-tegra-igxUpgrade linux-nvidiaUpgrade linux-realtimeUpgrade linux-gcp-5.15Upgrade linux-awsUpgrade linux-gkeUpgrade linux-intel-iotgUpgrade linux-riscv-5.15Upgrade linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15Upgrade linux-ibm-5.15Upgrade linux-raspiUpgrade linux-aws-5.15Upgrade linux-oracle-5.15Upgrade linuxUpgrade linux-bluefieldUpgrade linux-nvidia-tegraUpgrade linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15Upgrade linux-azure-fdeUpgrade linux-lowlatency | Sep 19, 2025 | Sep 17, 2025 |
| Vmware Photon_os | — | Use 'tdnf update' to upgrade all packages to the latest version. | Oct 15, 2025 | Sep 16, 2025 |
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