Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: prevent poison...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm: prevent poison consumption when splitting THP
When performing memory error injection on a THP (Transparent Huge Page)
mapped to userspace on an x86 server, the kernel panics with the following
trace. The expected behavior is to terminate the affected process instead
of panicking the kernel, as the x86 Machine Check code can recover from an
in-userspace #MC.
mce: [Hardware Error]: CPU 0: Machine Check Exception: f Bank 3: bd80000000070134
mce: [Hardware Error]: RIP 10: {memchr_inv+0x4c/0xf0}
mce: [Hardware Error]: TSC afff7bbff88a ADDR 1d301b000 MISC 80 PPIN 1e741e77539027db
mce: [Hardware Error]: PROCESSOR 0:d06d0 TIME 1758093249 SOCKET 0 APIC 0 microcode 80000320
mce: [Hardware Error]: Run the above through 'mcelog --ascii'
mce: [Hardware Error]: Machine check: Data load in unrecoverable area of kernel
Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal local machine check
The root cause of this panic is that handling a memory failure triggered
by an in-userspace #MC necessitates splitting the THP. The splitting
process employs a mechanism, implemented in
try_to_map_unused_to_zeropage(), which reads the pages in the THP to
identify zero-filled pages. However, reading the pages in the THP results
in a second in-kernel #MC, occurring before the initial memory_failure()
completes, ultimately leading to a kernel panic. See the kernel panic
call trace on the two #MCs.
First Machine Check occurs // [1]
memory_failure() // [2]
try_to_split_thp_page()
split_huge_page()
split_huge_page_to_list_to_order()
__folio_split() // [3]
remap_page()
remove_migration_ptes()
remove_migration_pte()
try_to_map_unused_to_zeropage() // [4]
memchr_inv() // [5]
Second Machine Check occurs // [6]
Kernel panic
[1] Triggered by accessing a hardware-poisoned THP in userspace, which is
typically recoverable by terminating the affected process.
[2] Call folio_set_has_hwpoisoned() before try_to_split_thp_page().
[3] Pass the RMP_USE_SHARED_ZEROPAGE remap flag to remap_page().
[4] Try to map the unused THP to zeropage.
[5] Re-access pages in the hw-poisoned THP in the kernel.
[6] Triggered in-kernel, leading to a panic kernel.
In Step[2], memory_failure() sets the poisoned flag on the page in the THP
by TestSetPageHWPoison() before calling try_to_split_thp_page().
As suggested by David Hildenbrand, fix this panic by not accessing to the
poisoned page in the THP during zeropage identification, while continuing
to scan unaffected pages in the THP for possible zeropage mapping. This
prevents a second in-kernel #MC that would cause kernel panic in Step[4].
Thanks to Andrew Zaborowski for his initial work on fixing this issue.
Impact
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-2025-40230? CVE-2025-40230 is a unknown-severity security vulnerability. No fixed version is listed yet.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-40230? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2025-40230 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2025-40230 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-40230 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-2025-40230 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.