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

s390: Disable ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP

As reported by Luiz Capitulino enabling HVO on s390 leads to reproducible
crashes. The problem is that kernel page tables are modified without
flushing corresponding TLB entries.

Even if it looks like the empty flush_tlb_all() implementation on s390 is
the problem, it is actually a different problem: on s390 it is not allowed
to replace an active/valid page table entry with another valid page table
entry without the detour over an invalid entry. A direct replacement may
lead to random crashes and/or data corruption.

In order to invalidate an entry special instructions have to be used
(e.g. ipte or idte). Alternatively there are also special instructions
available which allow to replace a valid entry with a different valid
entry (e.g. crdte or cspg).

Given that the HVO code currently does not provide the hooks to allow for
an implementation which is compliant with the s390 architecture
requirements, disable ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP again, which is
basically a revert of the original patch which enabled it.
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390: Disable ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP As reported by Luiz Capitulino enabling HVO on s390 leads to reproducible crashes. The problem is that kernel page tables are modified without flushing corresponding TLB entries. Even if it looks like the empty flush_tlb_all() implementation on s390 is the problem, it is actually a different problem: on s390 it is not allowed to replace an active/valid page table entry with another valid page table entry without the detour over an invalid entry. A direct replacement may lead to random crashes and/or data corruption. In order to invalidate an entry special instructions have to be used (e.g. ipte or idte). Alternatively there are also special instructions available which allow to replace a valid entry with a different valid entry (e.g. crdte or cspg). Given that the HVO code currently does not provide the hooks to allow for an implementation which is compliant with the s390 architecture requirements, disable ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP again, which is basically a revert of the original patch which enabled it.
Title s390: Disable ARCH_WANT_OPTIMIZE_HUGETLB_VMEMMAP
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

Sign in to view the affected projects.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-12-16T13:42:57.817Z

Reserved: 2025-12-16T13:41:40.251Z

Link: CVE-2025-68179

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2025-12-16T14:15:49.873

Modified: 2025-12-16T14:15:49.873

Link: CVE-2025-68179

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.