CVE-2025-39904: arm64: kexec: initialize kexec_buf struct in load_other_segments()

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% 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-908

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64: kexec: initialize kexec_buf struct in load_other_segments() Patch series "kexec: Fix invalid field access". The kexec_buf structure was previously declared without initialization. commit bf454ec31add ("kexec_file: allow to place kexec_buf randomly") added a field that is always read but not consistently populated by all architectures. This un-initialized field will contain garbage. This is also triggering a UBSAN warning when the uninitialized data was accessed: ------------[ cut here ]------------ UBSAN: invalid-load in ./include/linux/kexec.h:210:10 load of value 252 is not a valid value for type '_Bool' Zero-initializing kexec_buf at declaration ensures all fields are cleanly set, preventing future instances of uninitialized memory being used. An initial fix was already landed for arm64[0], and this patchset fixes the problem on the remaining arm64 code and on riscv, as raised by Mark. Discussions about this problem could be found at[1][2]. This patch (of 3): The kexec_buf structure was previously declared without initialization. commit bf454ec31add ("kexec_file: allow to place kexec_buf randomly") added a field that is always read but not consistently populated by all architectures. This un-initialized field will contain garbage. This is also triggering a UBSAN warning when the uninitialized data was accessed: ------------[ cut here ]------------ UBSAN: invalid-load in ./include/linux/kexec.h:210:10 load of value 252 is not a valid value for type '_Bool' Zero-initializing kexec_buf at declaration ensures all fields are cleanly set, preventing future instances of uninitialized memory being used.

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.16 before 6.16.8; 6.17-rc1, 6.17-rc2, 6.17-rc3, 6.17-rc4, 6.17-rc5 — fixed in 6.16.8

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.16.8. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

Get alerted when CVE-2025-39904 or the next vulnerability affects your stack