VulnerabilityPublished 6 Dec 2025Updated 31 Jul 2026

CVE-2025-40274: Linux kernel · KVM: guest_memfd: Remove bindings on memslot deletion when gmem is dying

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1, 6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1, 6.17.0-1008.8 +6

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Dec 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by 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 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 25.10linux`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux@6.17.0-14.14?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-14.14	Fixed in 6.17.0-14.14
Ubuntu 25.10linux-aws`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws@6.17.0-1007.7?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1007.7	Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azure`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure@6.17.0-1008.8?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1008.8	Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azure-fde`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde@6.17.0-1017.17?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1003.3 – 6.17.0-1017.17 10 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 25.10linux-gcp`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp@6.17.0-1007.7?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1007.7	Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
Ubuntu 25.10linux-oracle`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-oracle@6.17.0-1007.7?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1007.7	Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: guest_memfd: Remove bindings on memslot deletion when gmem is dying When unbinding a memslot from a guest_memfd instance, remove the bindings even if the guest_memfd file is dying, i.e. even if its file refcount has gone to zero. If the memslot is freed before the file is fully released, nullifying the memslot side of the binding in kvm_gmem_release() will write to freed memory, as detected by syzbot+KASAN: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in kvm_gmem_release+0x176/0x440 virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c:353 Write of size 8 at addr ffff88807befa508 by task syz.0.17/6022 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 6022 Comm: syz.0.17 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/02/2025 Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x189/0x250 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xca/0x240 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0x118/0x150 mm/kasan/report.c:595 kvm_gmem_release+0x176/0x440 virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c:353 __fput+0x44c/0xa70 fs/file_table.c:468 task_work_run+0x1d4/0x260 kernel/task_work.c:227 resume_user_mode_work include/linux/resume_user_mode.h:50 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xe9/0x130 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+0x2bd/0xfa0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:100 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fbeeff8efc9 </TASK> Allocated by task 6023: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:56 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3e/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:77 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:397 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0x93/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:414 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:262 [inline] __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x3e2/0x700 mm/slub.c:5758 kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:957 [inline] kzalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:1094 [inline] kvm_set_memory_region+0x747/0xb90 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:2104 kvm_vm_ioctl_set_memory_region+0x6f/0xd0 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:2154 kvm_vm_ioctl+0x957/0xc60 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:5201 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:597 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xfc/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:583 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xfa/0xfa0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Freed by task 6023: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:56 [inline] kasan_save_track+0x3e/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:77 kasan_save_free_info+0x46/0x50 mm/kasan/generic.c:584 poison_slab_object mm/kasan/common.c:252 [inline] __kasan_slab_free+0x5c/0x80 mm/kasan/common.c:284 kasan_slab_free include/linux/kasan.h:234 [inline] slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:2533 [inline] slab_free mm/slub.c:6622 [inline] kfree+0x19a/0x6d0 mm/slub.c:6829 kvm_set_memory_region+0x9c4/0xb90 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:2130 kvm_vm_ioctl_set_memory_region+0x6f/0xd0 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:2154 kvm_vm_ioctl+0x957/0xc60 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:5201 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:597 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xfc/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:583 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xfa/0xfa0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Deliberately don't acquire filemap invalid lock when the file is dying as the lifecycle of f_mapping is outside the purview of KVM. Dereferencing the mapping is *probably* fine, but there's no need to invalidate anything as memslot deletion is responsible for zapping SPTEs, and the only code that can access the dying file is kvm_gmem_release(), whose core code is mutual ---truncated---

References

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