Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/ksm: fix flag-dropping...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/ksm: fix flag-dropping behavior in ksm_madvise
syzkaller discovered the following crash: (kernel BUG)
[ 44.607039] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 44.607422] kernel BUG at mm/userfaultfd.c:2067!
[ 44.608148] Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC KASAN NOPTI
[ 44.608814] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 2475 Comm: reproducer Not tainted 6.16.0-rc6 #1 PREEMPT(none)
[ 44.609635] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.16.3-0-ga6ed6b701f0a-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
[ 44.610695] RIP: 0010:userfaultfd_release_all+0x3a8/0x460
<snip other registers, drop unreliable trace>
[ 44.617726] Call Trace:
[ 44.617926]
[ 44.619284] userfaultfd_release+0xef/0x1b0
[ 44.620976] __fput+0x3f9/0xb60
[ 44.621240] fput_close_sync+0x110/0x210
[ 44.622222] __x64_sys_close+0x8f/0x120
[ 44.622530] do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x2f0
[ 44.622840] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
[ 44.623244] RIP: 0033:0x7f365bb3f227
Kernel panics because it detects UFFD inconsistency during
userfaultfd_release_all(). Specifically, a VMA which has a valid pointer
to vma->vm_userfaultfd_ctx, but no UFFD flags in vma->vm_flags.
The inconsistency is caused in ksm_madvise(): when user calls madvise()
with MADV_UNMEARGEABLE on a VMA that is registered for UFFD in MINOR mode,
it accidentally clears all flags stored in the upper 32 bits of
vma->vm_flags.
Assuming x86_64 kernel build, unsigned long is 64-bit and unsigned int and
int are 32-bit wide. This setup causes the following mishap during the &=
~VM_MERGEABLE assignment.
VM_MERGEABLE is a 32-bit constant of type unsigned int, 0x8000'0000.
After ~ is applied, it becomes 0x7fff'ffff unsigned int, which is then
promoted to unsigned long before the & operation. This promotion fills
upper 32 bits with leading 0s, as we're doing unsigned conversion (and
even for a signed conversion, this wouldn't help as the leading bit is 0).
& operation thus ends up AND-ing vm_flags with 0x0000'0000'7fff'ffff
instead of intended 0xffff'ffff'7fff'ffff and hence accidentally clears
the upper 32-bits of its value.
Fix it by changing VM_MERGEABLE constant to unsigned long, using the
BIT() macro.
Note: other VM_* flags are not affected: This only happens to the
VM_MERGEABLE flag, as the other VM_* flags are all constants of type int
and after ~ operation, they end up with leading 1 and are thus converted
to unsigned long with leading 1s.
Note 2:
After commit 31defc3b01d9 ("userfaultfd: remove (VM_)BUG_ON()s"), this is
no longer a kernel BUG, but a WARNING at the same place:
[ 45.595973] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 2474 at mm/userfaultfd.c:2067
but the root-cause (flag-drop) remains the same.
[[email protected]: rust bindgen wasn't able to handle BIT(), from Miguel]
Impact
CVE-2025-40040 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.
Already deployed Kodem?
See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-40040? CVE-2025-40040 is a medium-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
- How severe is CVE-2025-40040? CVE-2025-40040 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-2025-40040? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-40040 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2025-40040 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-40040 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-2025-40040 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.