In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

arm64: ftrace: fix module PLTs with mcount

Li Huafei reports that mcount-based ftrace with module PLTs was broken
by commit:

a6253579977e4c6f ("arm64: ftrace: consistently handle PLTs.")

When a module PLTs are used and a module is loaded sufficiently far away
from the kernel, we'll create PLTs for any branches which are
out-of-range. These are separate from the special ftrace trampoline
PLTs, which the module PLT code doesn't directly manipulate.

When mcount is in use this is a problem, as each mcount callsite in a
module will be initialized to point to a module PLT, but since commit
a6253579977e4c6f ftrace_make_nop() will assume that the callsite has
been initialized to point to the special ftrace trampoline PLT, and
ftrace_find_callable_addr() rejects other cases.

This means that when ftrace tries to initialize a callsite via
ftrace_make_nop(), the call to ftrace_find_callable_addr() will find
that the `_mcount` stub is out-of-range and is not handled by the ftrace
PLT, resulting in a splat:

| ftrace_test: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
| ftrace: no module PLT for _mcount
| ------------[ ftrace bug ]------------
| ftrace failed to modify
| [<ffff800029180014>] 0xffff800029180014
| actual: 44:00:00:94
| Initializing ftrace call sites
| ftrace record flags: 2000000
| (0)
| expected tramp: ffff80000802eb3c
| ------------[ cut here ]------------
| WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 157 at kernel/trace/ftrace.c:2120 ftrace_bug+0x94/0x270
| Modules linked in:
| CPU: 3 PID: 157 Comm: insmod Tainted: G O 6.0.0-rc6-00151-gcd722513a189-dirty #22
| Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)
| pstate: 60000005 (nZCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--)
| pc : ftrace_bug+0x94/0x270
| lr : ftrace_bug+0x21c/0x270
| sp : ffff80000b2bbaf0
| x29: ffff80000b2bbaf0 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: ffff0000c4d38000
| x26: 0000000000000001 x25: ffff800009d7e000 x24: ffff0000c4d86e00
| x23: 0000000002000000 x22: ffff80000a62b000 x21: ffff8000098ebea8
| x20: ffff0000c4d38000 x19: ffff80000aa24158 x18: ffffffffffffffff
| x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0a0d2d2d2d2d2d2d x15: ffff800009aa9118
| x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 6333626532303830 x12: 3030303866666666
| x11: 203a706d61727420 x10: 6465746365707865 x9 : 3362653230383030
| x8 : c0000000ffffefff x7 : 0000000000017fe8 x6 : 000000000000bff4
| x5 : 0000000000057fa8 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000001
| x2 : ad2cb14bb5438900 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000022
| Call trace:
| ftrace_bug+0x94/0x270
| ftrace_process_locs+0x308/0x430
| ftrace_module_init+0x44/0x60
| load_module+0x15b4/0x1ce8
| __do_sys_init_module+0x1ec/0x238
| __arm64_sys_init_module+0x24/0x30
| invoke_syscall+0x54/0x118
| el0_svc_common.constprop.4+0x84/0x100
| do_el0_svc+0x3c/0xd0
| el0_svc+0x1c/0x50
| el0t_64_sync_handler+0x90/0xb8
| el0t_64_sync+0x15c/0x160
| ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
| ---------test_init-----------

Fix this by reverting to the old behaviour of ignoring the old
instruction when initialising an mcount callsite in a module, which was
the behaviour prior to commit a6253579977e4c6f.
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate


Wed, 22 Oct 2025 13:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64: ftrace: fix module PLTs with mcount Li Huafei reports that mcount-based ftrace with module PLTs was broken by commit: a6253579977e4c6f ("arm64: ftrace: consistently handle PLTs.") When a module PLTs are used and a module is loaded sufficiently far away from the kernel, we'll create PLTs for any branches which are out-of-range. These are separate from the special ftrace trampoline PLTs, which the module PLT code doesn't directly manipulate. When mcount is in use this is a problem, as each mcount callsite in a module will be initialized to point to a module PLT, but since commit a6253579977e4c6f ftrace_make_nop() will assume that the callsite has been initialized to point to the special ftrace trampoline PLT, and ftrace_find_callable_addr() rejects other cases. This means that when ftrace tries to initialize a callsite via ftrace_make_nop(), the call to ftrace_find_callable_addr() will find that the `_mcount` stub is out-of-range and is not handled by the ftrace PLT, resulting in a splat: | ftrace_test: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel. | ftrace: no module PLT for _mcount | ------------[ ftrace bug ]------------ | ftrace failed to modify | [<ffff800029180014>] 0xffff800029180014 | actual: 44:00:00:94 | Initializing ftrace call sites | ftrace record flags: 2000000 | (0) | expected tramp: ffff80000802eb3c | ------------[ cut here ]------------ | WARNING: CPU: 3 PID: 157 at kernel/trace/ftrace.c:2120 ftrace_bug+0x94/0x270 | Modules linked in: | CPU: 3 PID: 157 Comm: insmod Tainted: G O 6.0.0-rc6-00151-gcd722513a189-dirty #22 | Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) | pstate: 60000005 (nZCv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) | pc : ftrace_bug+0x94/0x270 | lr : ftrace_bug+0x21c/0x270 | sp : ffff80000b2bbaf0 | x29: ffff80000b2bbaf0 x28: 0000000000000000 x27: ffff0000c4d38000 | x26: 0000000000000001 x25: ffff800009d7e000 x24: ffff0000c4d86e00 | x23: 0000000002000000 x22: ffff80000a62b000 x21: ffff8000098ebea8 | x20: ffff0000c4d38000 x19: ffff80000aa24158 x18: ffffffffffffffff | x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0a0d2d2d2d2d2d2d x15: ffff800009aa9118 | x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 6333626532303830 x12: 3030303866666666 | x11: 203a706d61727420 x10: 6465746365707865 x9 : 3362653230383030 | x8 : c0000000ffffefff x7 : 0000000000017fe8 x6 : 000000000000bff4 | x5 : 0000000000057fa8 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000001 | x2 : ad2cb14bb5438900 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000022 | Call trace: | ftrace_bug+0x94/0x270 | ftrace_process_locs+0x308/0x430 | ftrace_module_init+0x44/0x60 | load_module+0x15b4/0x1ce8 | __do_sys_init_module+0x1ec/0x238 | __arm64_sys_init_module+0x24/0x30 | invoke_syscall+0x54/0x118 | el0_svc_common.constprop.4+0x84/0x100 | do_el0_svc+0x3c/0xd0 | el0_svc+0x1c/0x50 | el0t_64_sync_handler+0x90/0xb8 | el0t_64_sync+0x15c/0x160 | ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- | ---------test_init----------- Fix this by reverting to the old behaviour of ignoring the old instruction when initialising an mcount callsite in a module, which was the behaviour prior to commit a6253579977e4c6f.
Title arm64: ftrace: fix module PLTs with mcount
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-10-22T13:23:32.242Z

Reserved: 2025-10-22T13:20:23.762Z

Link: CVE-2022-50579

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-10-22T14:15:42.927

Modified: 2025-10-22T21:12:48.953

Link: CVE-2022-50579

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2025-10-22T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2022-50579 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.