CVE-2025-22034: mm/gup: reject FOLL_SPLIT_PMD with hugetlb VMAs
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/gup: reject FOLL_SPLIT_PMD with hugetlb VMAs
Patch series "mm: fixes for device-exclusive entries (hmm)", v2.
Discussing the PageTail() call in make_device_exclusive_range() with
Willy, I recently discovered [1] that device-exclusive handling does not
properly work with THP, making the hmm-tests selftests fail if THPs are
enabled on the system.
Looking into more details, I found that hugetlb is not properly fenced,
and I realized that something that was bugging me for longer -- how
device-exclusive entries interact with mapcounts -- completely breaks
migration/swapout/split/hwpoison handling of these folios while they have
device-exclusive PTEs.
The program below can be used to allocate 1 GiB worth of pages and making
them device-exclusive on a kernel with CONFIG_TEST_HMM.
Once they are device-exclusive, these folios cannot get swapped out
(proc$pid/smaps_rollup will always indicate 1 GiB RSS no matter how much
one forces memory reclaim), and when having a memory block onlined to
ZONE_MOVABLE, trying to offline it will loop forever and complain about
failed migration of a page that should be movable.
# echo offline > /sys/devices/system/memory/memory136/state
# echo online_movable > /sys/devices/system/memory/memory136/state
# ./hmm-swap &
... wait until everything is device-exclusive
# echo offline > /sys/devices/system/memory/memory136/state
[ 285.193431][T14882] page: refcount:2 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000
index:0x7f20671f7 pfn:0x442b6a
[ 285.196618][T14882] memcg:ffff888179298000
[ 285.198085][T14882] anon flags: 0x5fff0000002091c(referenced|uptodate|
dirty|active|owner_2|swapbacked|node=1|zone=3|lastcpupid=0x7ff)
[ 285.201734][T14882] raw: ...
[ 285.204464][T14882] raw: ...
[ 285.207196][T14882] page dumped because: migration failure
[ 285.209072][T14882] page_owner tracks the page as allocated
[ 285.210915][T14882] page last allocated via order 0, migratetype
Movable, gfp_mask 0x140dca(GFP_HIGHUSER_MOVABLE|__GFP_COMP|__GFP_ZERO),
id 14926, tgid 14926 (hmm-swap), ts 254506295376, free_ts 227402023774
[ 285.216765][T14882] post_alloc_hook+0x197/0x1b0
[ 285.218874][T14882] get_page_from_freelist+0x76e/0x3280
[ 285.220864][T14882] __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x38e/0x2740
[ 285.223302][T14882] alloc_pages_mpol+0x1fc/0x540
[ 285.225130][T14882] folio_alloc_mpol_noprof+0x36/0x340
[ 285.227222][T14882] vma_alloc_folio_noprof+0xee/0x1a0
[ 285.229074][T14882] __handle_mm_fault+0x2b38/0x56a0
[ 285.230822][T14882] handle_mm_fault+0x368/0x9f0
...
This series fixes all issues I found so far. There is no easy way to fix
without a bigger rework/cleanup. I have a bunch of cleanups on top (some
previous sent, some the result of the discussion in v1) that I will send
out separately once this landed and I get to it.
I wish we could just use some special present PROT_NONE PTEs instead of
these (non-present, non-none) fake-swap entries; but that just results in
the same problem we keep having (lack of spare PTE bits), and staring at
other similar fake-swap entries, that ship has sailed.
With this series, make_device_exclusive() doesn't actually belong into
mm/rmap.c anymore, but I'll leave moving that for another day.
I only tested this series with the hmm-tests selftests due to lack of HW,
so I'd appreciate some testing, especially if the interaction between two
GPUs wanting a device-exclusive entry works as expected.
<program>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>
#include <linux/types.h>
#include <linux/ioctl.h>
#define HMM_DMIRROR_EXCLUSIVE _IOWR('H', 0x05, struct hmm_dmirror_cmd)
struct hmm_dmirror_cmd {
__u64 addr;
__u64 ptr;
__u64 npages;
__u64 cpages;
__u64 faults;
};
const size_t size = 1 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024ul;
const size_t chunk_size = 2 * 1024 * 1024ul;
int m
---truncated---
Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A local user may trigger flawed Linux memory-management behavior involving device-exclusive pages and huge pages. Demonstrated consequences include memory that cannot be reclaimed and memory-offline operations looping indefinitely, creating availability and operational risks. Although scored 7.8, the supplied evidence does not demonstrate real-world data theft or active attacks.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority kernel maintenance issue for multi-user, GPU, heterogeneous-memory, or memory-hotplug systems. Accelerate patching where untrusted local workloads run. Standard patch cadence may be reasonable for systems lacking the relevant memory features and local-user exposure, subject to vendor confirmation.
Technical view
Linux mishandles FOLL_SPLIT_PMD with hugetlb VMAs during device-exclusive page processing. Device-exclusive PTEs can disrupt mapcounts and break migration, swapout, splitting, and hardware-poison handling. The documented reproducer requires local access and HMM-related functionality; fixes reject the incompatible flag combination and are available through referenced stable-kernel commits.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most plausible on affected Linux kernels using HMM or device-exclusive memory workflows, particularly GPU or heterogeneous-memory systems with huge pages. The supplied affected-version data names 6.10, 6.12.23, 6.13.11, 6.14.2, and 6.15, but does not provide sufficiently clear range boundaries for independent interpretation.
Exploitation context
The CVSS vector describes a local, low-privilege, low-complexity attack requiring no user interaction. The demonstrated impact is resource-management failure and potential denial of service. The bundle marks this CVE as absent from KEV and provides no evidence of active exploitation, public weaponization, or remote reachability.
Researcher notes
The upstream report says testing was limited to HMM selftests because relevant hardware was unavailable, specifically requesting multi-GPU interaction testing. Evidence strongly supports memory-management correctness and availability failures, while practical confidentiality and integrity consequences remain insufficiently demonstrated in the supplied sources. Exact affected-version boundaries should be verified through vendor advisories and commit ancestry.
Mitigation direction
Upgrade to a vendor-supported kernel containing the applicable stable fix.
Consult the distribution or appliance vendor for exact affected and fixed package versions.
Prioritize systems using HMM, device-exclusive memory, GPUs, hugetlb, or memory hotplug.
Restrict unnecessary local account and workload access until remediation is complete.
Validation and detection
Inventory running kernel versions and distribution package revisions.
Check vendor advisories for backports of the four referenced stable commits.
Identify systems using HMM, device-exclusive memory, hugetlb, GPUs, or memory hotplug.
After upgrading, confirm the fixed kernel is running following reboot.
Use authorized regression testing; avoid reproducing disruptive memory-offline behavior on production systems.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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