Linux Kernel up to 6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.3 IOMMU Driver use after free

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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7.7$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.3. The impacted element is an unknown function of the component IOMMU Driver. This manipulation causes use after free. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-71089. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.119/6.12.63/6.18.3 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown functionality of the component IOMMU Driver. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu: disable SVA when CONFIG_X86 is set Patch series "Fix stale IOTLB entries for kernel address space", v7. This proposes a fix for a security vulnerability related to IOMMU Shared Virtual Addressing (SVA). In an SVA context, an IOMMU can cache kernel page table entries. When a kernel page table page is freed and reallocated for another purpose, the IOMMU might still hold stale, incorrect entries. This can be exploited to cause a use-after-free or write-after-free condition, potentially leading to privilege escalation or data corruption. This solution introduces a deferred freeing mechanism for kernel page table pages, which provides a safe window to notify the IOMMU to invalidate its caches before the page is reused. This patch (of 8): In the IOMMU Shared Virtual Addressing (SVA) context, the IOMMU hardware shares and walks the CPU's page tables. The x86 architecture maps the kernel's virtual address space into the upper portion of every process's page table. Consequently, in an SVA context, the IOMMU hardware can walk and cache kernel page table entries. The Linux kernel currently lacks a notification mechanism for kernel page table changes, specifically when page table pages are freed and reused. The IOMMU driver is only notified of changes to user virtual address mappings. This can cause the IOMMU's internal caches to retain stale entries for kernel VA. Use-After-Free (UAF) and Write-After-Free (WAF) conditions arise when kernel page table pages are freed and later reallocated. The IOMMU could misinterpret the new data as valid page table entries. The IOMMU might then walk into attacker-controlled memory, leading to arbitrary physical memory DMA access or privilege escalation. This is also a Write-After-Free issue, as the IOMMU will potentially continue to write Accessed and Dirty bits to the freed memory while attempting to walk the stale page tables. Currently, SVA contexts are unprivileged and cannot access kernel mappings. However, the IOMMU will still walk kernel-only page tables all the way down to the leaf entries, where it realizes the mapping is for the kernel and errors out. This means the IOMMU still caches these intermediate page table entries, making the described vulnerability a real concern. Disable SVA on x86 architecture until the IOMMU can receive notification to flush the paging cache before freeing the CPU kernel page table pages.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-71089 since 01/13/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/26/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 298928 (SUSE SLES15 : Recommended update for initial livepatch (SUSE-SU-2026:0474-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.6.120, 6.12.64, 6.18.4 or 6.19-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 240cd7f2812cc25496b12063d11c823618f364e9/c2c3f1a3fd74ef16cf115f0c558616a13a8471b4/c341dee80b5df49a936182341b36395c831c2661/72f98ef9a4be30d2a60136dd6faee376f780d06c 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 vulnerability database at Tenable (298928). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.7

VulDB Base Score: 8.0
VulDB Temp Score: 7.6
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 298928
Nessus Name: SUSE SLES15 : Recommended update for initial livepatch (SUSE-SU-2026:0474-1)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.6.120/6.12.64/6.18.4/6.19-rc1
Patch: 240cd7f2812cc25496b12063d11c823618f364e9/c2c3f1a3fd74ef16cf115f0c558616a13a8471b4/c341dee80b5df49a936182341b36395c831c2661/72f98ef9a4be30d2a60136dd6faee376f780d06c

Timelineinfo

01/13/2026 Advisory disclosed
01/13/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
01/13/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
02/26/2026 +44 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-71089 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-71089
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-340699

Entryinfo

Created: 01/13/2026 18:06
Updated: 02/26/2026 19:59
Changes: 01/13/2026 18:06 (58), 02/13/2026 19:36 (2), 02/26/2026 19:59 (11)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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