Skip to main content
CVE-2025-38085VulnerabilityPublished Updated

Linux kernel · mm/hugetlb: fix huge_pmd_unshare() vs GUP-fast race huge_pmd_unshare() drops a reference on a page table that may have previously been shared across processes, potentially turning it into a normal page table used in another process in which unrelated VMAs can afterwards be installed

Affects linuxSource GCVE Database

0

Mentioned vulnerabilities

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 Medium · fixed in 5.15.0-1096.105~20.04.1 : update linux when convenient.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 5.15.0-1096.105~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1092.101~20.04.1, 5.15.0-1092.99~20.04.1 +2
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 28 Jun 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
linuxAffected
  • Red Hat
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time E4S (v.9.2)
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV E4S (v.9.2)
  • src
  • <5.15.0-1092.99~20.04.1
  • <5.15.0-1096.105~20.04.1
  • <5.15.0-1092.101~20.04.1
  • <5.15.0-156.166~20.04.1
  • <5.15.0-1086.89~20.04.1
Fixed in
  • 5.15.0-1092.99~20.04.1
  • 5.15.0-1096.105~20.04.1
  • 5.15.0-1092.101~20.04.1
  • 5.15.0-156.166~20.04.1
  • 5.15.0-1086.89~20.04.1

AI-suggested

An official security update is available from Red Hat (RHSA-2025:15224) that addresses these vulnerabilities. Users should apply the kernel-rt update for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Update Services for SAP Solutions and Extended Life Cycle 9.2 as provided by Red Hat and reboot the system for the changes to take effect. Refer to https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 for detailed update instructions.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix huge_pmd_unshare() vs GUP-fast race huge_pmd_unshare() drops a reference on a page table that may have previously been shared across processes, potentially turning it into a normal page table used in another process in which unrelated VMAs can afterwards be installed. If this happens in the middle of a concurrent gup_fast(), gup_fast() could end up walking the page tables of another process. While I don't see any way in which that immediately leads to kernel memory corruption, it is really weird and unexpected. Fix it with an explicit broadcast IPI through tlb_remove_table_sync_one(), just like we do in khugepaged when removing page tables for a THP collapse.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…