CVE-2025-40327: perf/core: Fix system hang caused by cpu-clock usage

Severity: unknown
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: 2025-12-09 · updated 2026-10-15

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Fix system hang caused by cpu-clock usage cpu-clock usage by the async-profiler tool can trigger a system hang, which got bisected back to the following commit by Octavia Togami: 18dbcbfabfff ("perf: Fix the POLL_HUP delivery breakage") causes this issue The root cause of the hang is that cpu-clock is a special type of SW event which relies on hrtimers. The __perf_event_overflow() callback is invoked from the hrtimer handler for cpu-clock events, and __perf_event_overflow() tries to call cpu_clock_event_stop() to stop the event, which calls htimer_cancel() to cancel the hrtimer. But that's a recursion into the hrtimer code from a hrtimer handler, which (unsurprisingly) deadlocks. To fix this bug, use hrtimer_try_to_cancel() instead, and set the PERF_HES_STOPPED flag, which causes perf_swevent_hrtimer() to stop the event once it sees the PERF_HES_STOPPED flag. [ mingo: Fixed the comments and improved the changelog. ]

Affected products

Linux kernel: from 6.16.8 before 6.17; 6.17 — fixed in 6.17, 6.18

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 6.17, 6.18. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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