CVE-2025-38565: perf/core: Exit early on perf_mmap() fail

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-08-19 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Exit early on perf_mmap() fail When perf_mmap() fails to allocate a buffer, it still invokes the event_mapped() callback of the related event. On X86 this might increase the perf_rdpmc_allowed reference counter. But nothing undoes this as perf_mmap_close() is never called in this case, which causes another reference count leak. Return early on failure to prevent that.

Affected products

Debian Linux: 11.0
Linux kernel: from 4.0 before 5.4.297; from 5.5 before 5.10.241; from 5.11 before 5.15.190; from 5.16 before 6.1.148; from 6.2 before 6.6.102; from 6.7 before 6.12.42 — fixed in 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 5.4.297, 6.1.148, 6.12.42, 6.15.10

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.241, 5.15.190, 5.4.297, 6.1.148. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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