Vulnerability · Published Jun 18, 2025 · Assigned by Linux

CVE-2025-38050mm/hugetlb: fix kernel NULL pointer dereference when replacing free hugetlb folios

Medium 5.5

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 6% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS NVD)5.5Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.2%top 94.4% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix kernel NULL pointer dereference when replacing free hugetlb folios A kernel crash was observed when replacing free hugetlb folios: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000028 PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 28 UID: 0 PID: 29639 Comm: test_cma.sh Tainted 6.15.0-rc6-zp #41 PREEMPT(voluntary) RIP: 0010:alloc_and_dissolve_hugetlb_folio+0x1d/0x1f0 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000b30fa90 EFLAGS: 00010286 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000342cca RCX: ffffea0043000000 RDX: ffffc9000b30fb08 RSI: ffffea0043000000 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: ffffc9000b30fb20 R08: 0000000000001000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: ffff88886f92eb00 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffea0043000000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 00000000010c0200 R15: 0000000000000004 FS: 00007fcda5f14740(0000) GS:ffff8888ec1d8000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000000000000028 CR3: 0000000391402000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> replace_free_hugepage_folios+0xb6/0x100 alloc_contig_range_noprof+0x18a/0x590 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? down_read+0x12/0xa0 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f cma_range_alloc.constprop.0+0x131/0x290 __cma_alloc+0xcf/0x2c0 cma_alloc_write+0x43/0xb0 simple_attr_write_xsigned.constprop.0.isra.0+0xb2/0x110 debugfs_attr_write+0x46/0x70 full_proxy_write+0x62/0xa0 vfs_write+0xf8/0x420 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? filp_flush+0x86/0xa0 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? filp_close+0x1f/0x30 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ? do_dup2+0xaf/0x160 ? srso_return_thunk+0x5/0x5f ksys_write+0x65/0xe0 do_syscall_64+0x64/0x170 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e There is a potential race between __update_and_free_hugetlb_folio() and replace_free_hugepage_folios(): CPU1 CPU2 __update_and_free_hugetlb_folio replace_free_hugepage_folios folio_test_hugetlb(folio) -- It's still hugetlb folio. __folio_clear_hugetlb(folio) hugetlb_free_folio(folio) h = folio_hstate(folio) -- Here, h is NULL pointer When the above race condition occurs, folio_hstate(folio) returns NULL, and subsequent access to this NULL pointer will cause the system to crash. To resolve this issue, execute folio_hstate(folio) under the protection of the hugetlb_lock lock, ensuring that folio_hstate(folio) does not return NULL.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-allwinner-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.146.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1USN-7769-3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.146.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-aws-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:25.10linux-azure-fdeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-azure-fde-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-azure-nvidia-6.146.14.0-1007.7UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.146.14.0-1016.17~24.04.1UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.146.14.0-1016.17~24.04.1USN-7769-1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-gcp-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.146.14.0-32.32~24.04.1USN-7769-3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-intel-iot-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-nvidia-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-5.17no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.0no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.1no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.146.14.0-1012.12USN-7771-1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.146.14.0-1012.12UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oem-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.146.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.146.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1USN-7789-1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-oracle-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-raspi-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-realtimeno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscvno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.146.14.0-32.32.1~24.04.1UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-riscv-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-5.19no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.2no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlinux-starfive-6.5no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
Linux Linux 04f13d241b8b146b23038bffd907cb8278391d07 – before e97283978a9848190d451f7038ac399613445f7904f13d241b8b146b23038bffd907cb8278391d07 – before 113ed54ad276c352ee5ce109bdcf0df118a43bda
Linux Linux 6.14

References