CVE-2025-39902: mm/slub: avoid accessing metadata when pointer is invalid in object_err()

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 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: 2025-10-01 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-476

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/slub: avoid accessing metadata when pointer is invalid in object_err() object_err() reports details of an object for further debugging, such as the freelist pointer, redzone, etc. However, if the pointer is invalid, attempting to access object metadata can lead to a crash since it does not point to a valid object. One known path to the crash is when alloc_consistency_checks() determines the pointer to the allocated object is invalid because of a freelist corruption, and calls object_err() to report it. The debug code should report and handle the corruption gracefully and not crash in the process. In case the pointer is NULL or check_valid_pointer() returns false for the pointer, only print the pointer value and skip accessing metadata.

Affected products

Debian Linux: 11.0
Linux kernel: from 2.6.22 before 5.4.299; from 5.5 before 5.10.243; from 5.11 before 5.15.192; from 5.16 before 6.1.151; from 6.2 before 6.6.105; from 6.7 before 6.12.46 — fixed in 5.10.243, 5.15.192, 5.4.299, 6.1.151, 6.12.46, 6.16.6

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 5.10.243, 5.15.192, 5.4.299, 6.1.151. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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