Medium severity · published Sep 4, 2025
CVE-2025-38681
mm/ptdump: take the memory hotplug lock inside ptdump_walk_pgd()
4.7
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/ptdump: take the memory hotplug lock inside ptdump_walk_pgd()
Memory hot remove unmaps and tears down various kernel page table regions
as required. The ptdump code can race with concurrent modifications of
the kernel page tables. When leaf entries are modified concurrently, the
dump code may log stale or inconsistent information for a VA range, but
this is otherwise not harmful.
But when intermediate levels of kernel page table are freed, the dump code
will continue to use memory that has been freed and potentially
reallocated for another purpose. In such cases, the ptdump code may
dereference bogus addresses, leading to a number of potential problems.
To avoid the above mentioned race condition, platforms such as arm64,
riscv and s390 take memory hotplug lock, while dumping kernel page table
via the sysfs interface /sys/kernel/debug/kernel_page_tables.
Similar race condition exists while checking for pages that might have
been marked W+X via /sys/kernel/debug/kernel_page_tables/check_wx_pages
which in turn calls ptdump_check_wx(). Instead of solving this race
condition again, let's just move the memory hotplug lock inside generic
ptdump_check_wx() which will benefit both the scenarios.
Drop get_online_mems() and put_online_mems() combination from all existing
platform ptdump code paths.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 3% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
KE
Kernel · Linux
5.7 before 5.10.241; 5.11 before 5.15.190; 5.16 before 6.1.149; 6.2 before 6.6.103; 6.7 before 6.12.43; 6.13 before 6.15.11; +1 more · source: NVD
LI
Linux · Linux
bbd6ec605c0fc286c3f8ce60b4ed44635361d58b before 3ee9a8c27bfd72c3f465004fa8455785d61be5e8; bbd6ec605c0fc286c3f8ce60b4ed44635361d58b before 69bea84b06b5e779627e7afdbf4b60a7d231c76f; bbd6ec605c0fc286c3f8ce60b4ed44635361d58b before ac25ec5fa2bf6e606dc7954488e4dded272fa9cd; bbd6ec605c0fc286c3f8ce60b4ed44635361d58b before 1636b5e9c3543b87d673e32a47e7c18698882425; bbd6ec605c0fc286c3f8ce60b4ed44635361d58b before ff40839e018b82c4d756d035f34a63aa2d93be83; bbd6ec605c0fc286c3f8ce60b4ed44635361d58b before 67995d4244694928ce701928e530b5b4adeb17b4; +3 more · source: vendor
DL
Debian Linux · Debian
11.0 · source: NVD
SC
SIMATIC CN 4100 · Siemens
before V5.0 · source: CISA
SS
SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP · Siemens
V3.1.6; V3.1.7; V3.1.6; V3.1.7 · source: CISA
SS
SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP · Siemens
V3.1.6; V3.1.7; V3.1.6; V3.1.7 · source: CISA
SS
SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP · Siemens
V3.1.6; V3.1.7 · source: CISA
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-38681
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-38681
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1636b5e9c3543b87d673e32a47e7c18698882425
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ee9a8c27bfd72c3f465004fa8455785d61be5e8
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59305202c67fea50378dcad0cc199dbc13a0e99a
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/67995d4244694928ce701928e530b5b4adeb17b4
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/69bea84b06b5e779627e7afdbf4b60a7d231c76f
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac25ec5fa2bf6e606dc7954488e4dded272fa9cd
More from Kernel
9.8
CVE-2025-39682
tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list
8.8
CVE-2026-53266
netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable
8.8
CVE-2013-6282
Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Vulnerability
8.4
CVE-2022-0185
Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability
8.4
CVE-2013-2094
Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
