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.
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
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-allwinner-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.14 | 6.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1 | USN-7769-3 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.14 | 6.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1 | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:25.10 | linux-azure-fde | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 | 6.14.0-1007.7 | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.14 | 6.14.0-1016.17~24.04.1 | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.14 | 6.14.0-1016.17~24.04.1 | USN-7769-1 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.14 | 6.14.0-32.32~24.04.1 | USN-7769-3 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iot-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-5.17 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.0 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.1 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.14 | 6.14.0-1012.12 | USN-7771-1 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.14 | 6.14.0-1012.12 | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.14 | 6.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1 | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.14 | 6.14.0-1013.13~24.04.1 | USN-7789-1 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oracle-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.14 | 6.14.0-32.32.1~24.04.1 | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.5 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2025-38050 |