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 perf6.12-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-libbpfUpgrade python3-perf6.12-debuginfoUpgrade python3-perf6.12Upgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade kernel-livepatch-6.12.25-32.101Upgrade kernel-develUpgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernel6.12-debuginfoUpgrade kernel6.12-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-modules-extra-commonUpgrade kernel-libbpf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade kernel6.12-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade perf6.12Upgrade kernel6.12Upgrade kernel6.12-modules-extraUpgrade kernel-libbpf-develUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-libbpf-static | 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-obs-qaUpgrade kernel-64kbUpgrade kernel-symsUpgrade kernel-zfcpdumpUpgrade kernel-64kb-develUpgrade kernel-kvmsmall-develUpgrade kernel-default-extraUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-docs-htmlUpgrade kernel-azure-extraUpgrade kernel-default-develUpgrade kernel-default-livepatchUpgrade kernel-source-azureUpgrade kernel-azureUpgrade kernel-azure-develUpgrade kernel-default-vdsoUpgrade kernel-macrosUpgrade kernel-sourceUpgrade kernel-kvmsmall-vdsoUpgrade kernel-64kb-extraUpgrade kernel-defaultUpgrade kernel-kvmsmallUpgrade kernel-devel-azureUpgrade kernel-source-vanillaUpgrade kernel-docsUpgrade kernel-azure-vdso | Dec 5, 2025 | Dec 5, 2025 |
| Ubuntu | — | Upgrade linux-image-awsUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1008-gcpUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-22-generic-64kUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-22-genericUpgrade linux-image-raspiUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-aws-64kUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-oracle-64kUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1008-gcp-64kUpgrade linux-image-azure-fdeUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-azureUpgrade linux-image-azureUpgrade linux-image-gcp-64kUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-raspiUpgrade linux-image-realtimeUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-azure-fdeUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-oracleUpgrade linux-image-genericUpgrade linux-image-aws-64kUpgrade linux-image-gcpUpgrade linux-image-generic-64kUpgrade linux-image-oracle-64kUpgrade linux-image-oracleUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1007-awsUpgrade linux-image-6.14.0-1004-realtime | Jun 26, 2025 | May 1, 2025 |
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