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Linux hwe edge: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommufd: Fix race during abort for file descriptors fput() doesn't actually call… (CVE-2025-39966)

0
Medium
Published: 10/15/2025 (10/15/2025, 08:15:00 UTC)
Source: GCVE Database
Product: linux-hwe-edge

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommufd: Fix race during abort for file descriptors fput() doesn't actually call file_operations release() synchronously, it puts the file on a work queue and it will be released eventually. This is normally fine, except for iommufd the file and the iommufd_object are tied to gether. The file has the object as it's private_data and holds a users refcount, while the object is expected to remain alive as long as the file is. When the allocation of a new object aborts before installing the file it will fput() the file and then go on to immediately kfree() the obj. This causes a UAF once the workqueue completes the fput() and tries to decrement the users refcount. Fix this by putting the core code in charge of the file lifetime, and call __fput_sync() during abort to ensure that release() is called before kfree. __fput_sync() is a bit too tricky to open code in all the object implementations. Instead the objects tell the core code where the file pointer is and the core will take care of the life cycle. If the object is successfully allocated then the file will hold a users refcount and the iommufd_object cannot be destroyed. It is worth noting that close(); ioctl(IOMMU_DESTROY); doesn't have an issue because close() is already using a synchronous version of fput(). The UAF looks like this: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in iommufd_eventq_fops_release+0x45/0xc0 drivers/iommu/iommufd/eventq.c:376 Write of size 4 at addr ffff888059c97804 by task syz.0.46/6164 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6164 Comm: syz.0.46 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 08/18/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x116/0x1f0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xcd/0x630 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0xe0/0x110 mm/kasan/report.c:595 check_region_inline mm/kasan/generic.c:183 [inline] kasan_check_range+0x100/0x1b0 mm/kasan/generic.c:189 instrument_atomic_read_write include/linux/instrumented.h:96 [inline] atomic_fetch_sub_release include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h:400 [inline] __refcount_dec include/linux/refcount.h:455 [inline] refcount_dec include/linux/refcount.h:476 [inline] iommufd_eventq_fops_release+0x45/0xc0 drivers/iommu/iommufd/eventq.c:376 __fput+0x402/0xb70 fs/file_table.c:468 task_work_run+0x14d/0x240 kernel/task_work.c:227 resume_user_mode_work include/linux/resume_user_mode.h:50 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xeb/0x110 kernel/entry/common.c:43 exit_to_user_mode_prepare include/linux/irq-entry-common.h:225 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work include/linux/entry-common.h:175 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode include/linux/entry-common.h:210 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x41c/0x4c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:100 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

CVSS v3.1

Score 7.8high

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected software

redhat/kernel
pkg:rpm/redhat/kernel
Affected versions
=9.6

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AI-Powered Analysis

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AILast updated: 06/25/2026, 22:19:29 UTC

Technical Analysis

This vulnerability involves a race condition in the iommufd component of the Linux kernel, specifically during the abort process for file descriptors. The flaw is tracked as CVE-2025-39966 and is classified under CWE-416 (Use After Free). Red Hat has issued a security advisory (RHSA-2025:22802) addressing this issue with a kernel update for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support. The advisory rates the impact as moderate and recommends applying the update and rebooting the system to mitigate the vulnerability.

Potential Impact

The vulnerability could lead to unstable kernel behavior or potential security issues related to improper handling of file descriptor aborts due to a race condition. The exact impact details and exploitation scenarios are not provided, but the issue is rated moderate by Red Hat Product Security.

Mitigation Recommendations

Red Hat has released an official security update for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Extended Update Support that fixes this vulnerability. Users should apply the kernel update as described in the Red Hat advisory (https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258) and reboot affected systems to ensure the patch takes effect.

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Technical Details

Gcve Source
db.gcve.eu
Csaf Category
csaf_security_advisory
Csaf Version
2.0
Publisher
Red Hat Product Security
Advisory Id
RHSA-2025:22802
Cve Count
1

Threat ID: 6a3da1da4853345fc1828c5a

Added to database: 06/25/2026, 21:47:06 UTC

Last enriched: 06/25/2026, 22:19:29 UTC

Last updated: 09/10/2026, 19:36:50 UTC

Views: 24

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