Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: Allow CPU to reschedule...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: Allow CPU to reschedule while setting per-page memory attributes
When running an SEV-SNP guest with a sufficiently large amount of memory (1TB+),
the host can experience CPU soft lockups when running an operation in
kvm_vm_set_mem_attributes() to set memory attributes on the whole
range of guest memory.
watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#8 stuck for 26s! [qemu-kvm:6372]
CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 6372 Comm: qemu-kvm Kdump: loaded Not tainted 6.15.0-rc7.20250520.el9uek.rc1.x86_64 #1 PREEMPT(voluntary)
Hardware name: Oracle Corporation ORACLE SERVER E4-2c/Asm,MB Tray,2U,E4-2c, BIOS 78016600 11/13/2024
RIP: 0010:xas_create+0x78/0x1f0
Code: 00 00 00 41 80 fc 01 0f 84 82 00 00 00 ba 06 00 00 00 bd 06 00 00 00 49 8b 45 08 4d 8d 65 08 41 39 d6 73 20 83 ed 06 48 85 c0 <74> 67 48 89 c2 83 e2 03 48 83 fa 02 75 0c 48 3d 00 10 00 00 0f 87
RSP: 0018:ffffad890a34b940 EFLAGS: 00000286
RAX: ffff96f30b261daa RBX: ffffad890a34b9c8 RCX: 0000000000000000
RDX: 000000000000001e RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
RBP: 0000000000000018 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffffad890a356868
R13: ffffad890a356860 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffffad890a356868
FS: 00007f5578a2a400(0000) GS:ffff97ed317e1000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
CR2: 00007f015c70fb18 CR3: 00000001109fd006 CR4: 0000000000f70ef0
PKRU: 55555554
Call Trace:
xas_store+0x58/0x630
__xa_store+0xa5/0x130
xa_store+0x2c/0x50
kvm_vm_set_mem_attributes+0x343/0x710 [kvm]
kvm_vm_ioctl+0x796/0xab0 [kvm]
__x64_sys_ioctl+0xa3/0xd0
do_syscall_64+0x8c/0x7a0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
RIP: 0033:0x7f5578d031bb
Code: ff ff ff 85 c0 79 9b 49 c7 c4 ff ff ff ff 5b 5d 4c 89 e0 41 5c c3 66 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa b8 10 00 00 00 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 8b 0d 2d 4c 0f 00 f7 d8 64 89 01 48
RSP: 002b:00007ffe0a742b88 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010
RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 000000004020aed2 RCX: 00007f5578d031bb
RDX: 00007ffe0a742c80 RSI: 000000004020aed2 RDI: 000000000000000b
RBP: 0000010000000000 R08: 0000010000000000 R09: 0000017680000000
R10: 0000000000000080 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00005575e5f95120
R13: 00007ffe0a742c80 R14: 0000000000000008 R15: 00005575e5f961e0
While looping through the range of memory setting the attributes,
call cond_resched() to give the scheduler a chance to run a higher
priority task on the runqueue if necessary and avoid staying in
kernel mode long enough to trigger the lockup.
Impact
CVE-2025-38506 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-38506? CVE-2025-38506 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
- How severe is CVE-2025-38506? CVE-2025-38506 has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-38506? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-38506 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2025-38506 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-38506 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2025-38506 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.