Linux Kernel up to 6.16.3/6.17-rc2 mremap allocation of resources

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.16.3/6.17-rc2. It has been rated as critical. This impacts the function mremap. Performing a manipulation results in allocation of resources. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-39775. There is no available exploit. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.16.3/6.17-rc2. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function mremap. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. The impact remains unknown. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mremap: fix WARN with uffd that has remap events disabled Registering userfaultd on a VMA that spans at least one PMD and then mremap()'ing that VMA can trigger a WARN when recovering from a failed page table move due to a page table allocation error. The code ends up doing the right thing (recurse, avoiding moving actual page tables), but triggering that WARN is unpleasant: WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 6133 at mm/mremap.c:357 move_normal_pmd mm/mremap.c:357 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 6133 at mm/mremap.c:357 move_pgt_entry mm/mremap.c:595 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 6133 at mm/mremap.c:357 move_page_tables+0x3832/0x44a0 mm/mremap.c:852 Modules linked in: CPU: 2 UID: 0 PID: 6133 Comm: syz.0.19 Not tainted 6.17.0-rc1-syzkaller-00004-g53e760d89498 #0 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2~bpo12+1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:move_normal_pmd mm/mremap.c:357 [inline] RIP: 0010:move_pgt_entry mm/mremap.c:595 [inline] RIP: 0010:move_page_tables+0x3832/0x44a0 mm/mremap.c:852 Code: ... RSP: 0018:ffffc900037a76d8 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000032930007 RCX: ffffffff820c6645 RDX: ffff88802e56a440 RSI: ffffffff820c7201 RDI: 0000000000000007 RBP: ffff888037728fc0 R08: 0000000000000007 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000032930007 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000000 R13: ffffc900037a79a8 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 000055556316a500(0000) GS:ffff8880d68bc000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000001b30863fff CR3: 0000000050171000 CR4: 0000000000352ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> copy_vma_and_data+0x468/0x790 mm/mremap.c:1215 move_vma+0x548/0x1780 mm/mremap.c:1282 mremap_to+0x1b7/0x450 mm/mremap.c:1406 do_mremap+0xfad/0x1f80 mm/mremap.c:1921 __do_sys_mremap+0x119/0x170 mm/mremap.c:1977 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0xcd/0x4c0 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7f00d0b8ebe9 Code: ... RSP: 002b:00007ffe5ea5ee98 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000019 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f00d0db5fa0 RCX: 00007f00d0b8ebe9 RDX: 0000000000400000 RSI: 0000000000c00000 RDI: 0000200000000000 RBP: 00007ffe5ea5eef0 R08: 0000200000c00000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000003 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000002 R13: 00007f00d0db5fa0 R14: 00007f00d0db5fa0 R15: 0000000000000005 </TASK> The underlying issue is that we recurse during the original page table move, but not during the recovery move. Fix it by checking for both VMAs and performing the check before the pmd_none() sanity check. Add a new helper where we perform+document that check for the PMD and PUD level. Thanks to Harry for bisecting.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-39775 since 04/16/2025. The exploitability is told to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 264764 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-39775), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.16.4 or 6.17-rc3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (264764), EUVD (EUVD-2025-28937) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2040). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Google Cloud Platform
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Fedora Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• Proxmox Virtual Environment
• Proxmox Backup Server
• Dell Secure Connect Gateway
• IBM QRadar SIEM

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.16.0
• 6.16.1
• 6.16.2
• 6.16.3
• 6.17-rc1
• 6.17-rc2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion