In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm, swap: fix potential UAF issue for VMA readahead
Since commit 78524b05f1a3 ("mm, swap: avoid redundant swap device
pinning"), the common helper for allocating and preparing a folio in the
swap cache layer no longer tries to get a swap device reference
internally, because all callers of __read_swap_cache_async are already
holding a swap entry reference. The repeated swap device pinning isn't
needed on the same swap device.
Caller of VMA readahead is also holding a reference to the target entry's
swap device, but VMA readahead walks the page table, so it might encounter
swap entries from other devices, and call __read_swap_cache_async on
another device without holding a reference to it.
So it is possible to cause a UAF when swapoff of device A raced with
swapin on device B, and VMA readahead tries to read swap entries from
device A. It's not easy to trigger, but in theory, it could cause real
issues.
Make VMA readahead try to get the device reference first if the swap
device is a different one from the target entry.
mm, swap: fix potential UAF issue for VMA readahead
Since commit 78524b05f1a3 ("mm, swap: avoid redundant swap device
pinning"), the common helper for allocating and preparing a folio in the
swap cache layer no longer tries to get a swap device reference
internally, because all callers of __read_swap_cache_async are already
holding a swap entry reference. The repeated swap device pinning isn't
needed on the same swap device.
Caller of VMA readahead is also holding a reference to the target entry's
swap device, but VMA readahead walks the page table, so it might encounter
swap entries from other devices, and call __read_swap_cache_async on
another device without holding a reference to it.
So it is possible to cause a UAF when swapoff of device A raced with
swapin on device B, and VMA readahead tries to read swap entries from
device A. It's not easy to trigger, but in theory, it could cause real
issues.
Make VMA readahead try to get the device reference first if the swap
device is a different one from the target entry.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
Advisories
No advisories yet.
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Sat, 06 Dec 2025 22:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm, swap: fix potential UAF issue for VMA readahead Since commit 78524b05f1a3 ("mm, swap: avoid redundant swap device pinning"), the common helper for allocating and preparing a folio in the swap cache layer no longer tries to get a swap device reference internally, because all callers of __read_swap_cache_async are already holding a swap entry reference. The repeated swap device pinning isn't needed on the same swap device. Caller of VMA readahead is also holding a reference to the target entry's swap device, but VMA readahead walks the page table, so it might encounter swap entries from other devices, and call __read_swap_cache_async on another device without holding a reference to it. So it is possible to cause a UAF when swapoff of device A raced with swapin on device B, and VMA readahead tries to read swap entries from device A. It's not easy to trigger, but in theory, it could cause real issues. Make VMA readahead try to get the device reference first if the swap device is a different one from the target entry. | |
| Title | mm, swap: fix potential UAF issue for VMA readahead | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2025-12-06T21:50:51.639Z
Reserved: 2025-04-16T07:20:57.183Z
Link: CVE-2025-40270
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2025-12-06T22:15:54.610
Modified: 2025-12-06T22:15:54.610
Link: CVE-2025-40270
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
No weakness.