CVE-2025-37964

Source
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-37964
Import Source
https://storage.googleapis.com/osv-test-cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2025-37964.json
JSON Data
https://api.test.osv.dev/v1/vulns/CVE-2025-37964
Downstream
Related
Published
2025-05-20T16:01:56Z
Modified
2025-10-10T12:07:18.353851Z
Summary
x86/mm: Eliminate window where TLB flushes may be inadvertently skipped
Details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

x86/mm: Eliminate window where TLB flushes may be inadvertently skipped

tl;dr: There is a window in the mm switching code where the new CR3 is set and the CPU should be getting TLB flushes for the new mm. But shouldflushtlb() has a bug and suppresses the flush. Fix it by widening the window where shouldflushtlb() sends an IPI.

Long Version:

=== History ===

There were a few things leading up to this.

First, updating mmcpumask() was observed to be too expensive, so it was made lazier. But being lazy caused too many unnecessary IPIs to CPUs due to the now-lazy mmcpumask(). So code was added to cull mm_cpumask() periodically[2]. But that culling was a bit too aggressive and skipped sending TLB flushes to CPUs that need them. So here we are again.

=== Problem ===

The too-aggressive code in shouldflushtlb() strikes in this window:

// Turn on IPIs for this CPU/mm combination, but only
// if should_flush_tlb() agrees:
cpumask_set_cpu(cpu, mm_cpumask(next));

next_tlb_gen = atomic64_read(&next->context.tlb_gen);
choose_new_asid(next, next_tlb_gen, &new_asid, &need_flush);
load_new_mm_cr3(need_flush);
// ^ After 'need_flush' is set to false, IPIs *MUST*
// be sent to this CPU and not be ignored.

    this_cpu_write(cpu_tlbstate.loaded_mm, next);
// ^ Not until this point does should_flush_tlb()
// become true!

shouldflushtlb() will suppress TLB flushes between loadnewmmcr3() and writing to 'loadedmm', which is a window where they should not be suppressed. Whoops.

=== Solution ===

Thankfully, the fuzzy "just about to write CR3" window is already marked with loadedmm==LOADEDMMSWITCHING. Simply checking for that state in shouldflush_tlb() is sufficient to ensure that the CPU is targeted with an IPI.

This will cause more TLB flush IPIs. But the window is relatively small and I do not expect this to cause any kind of measurable performance impact.

Update the comment where LOADEDMMSWITCHING is written since it grew yet another user.

Peter Z also raised a concern that shouldflushtlb() might not observe 'loadedmm' and 'islazy' in the same order that switchmmirqs_off() writes them. Add a barrier to ensure that they are observed in the order they are written.

References

Affected packages

Git / git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git

Affected ranges

Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
848b5815177582de0e1d0118725378e0fbadca20
Fixed
12f703811af043d32b1c8a30001b2fa04d5cd0ac
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
b47002ed65ade940839b7f439ff4a194e7d5ec28
Fixed
02ad4ce144bd27f71f583f667fdf3b3ba0753477
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
a04fe3bfc71e28009e20357b79df1e8ef7c9d600
Fixed
d41072906abec8bb8e01ed16afefbaa558908c89
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
3dbe889a1b829b4c07e0836ff853fe649e51ce4f
Fixed
d87392094f96e162fa5fa5a8640d70cc0952806f
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
6db2526c1d694c91c6e05e2f186c085e9460f202
Fixed
399ec9ca8fc4999e676ff89a90184ec40031cf59
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
6db2526c1d694c91c6e05e2f186c085e9460f202
Fixed
fea4e317f9e7e1f449ce90dedc27a2d2a95bee5a
Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
d1347977661342cb09a304a17701eb2d4aa21dec

Affected versions

v5.*

v5.10.1
v5.10.10
v5.10.11
v5.10.12
v5.10.13
v5.10.14
v5.10.15
v5.10.16
v5.10.17
v5.10.18
v5.10.19
v5.10.2
v5.10.3
v5.10.4
v5.10.5
v5.10.6
v5.10.7
v5.10.8
v5.10.9
v5.11.1
v5.11.10
v5.11.11
v5.11.12
v5.11.13
v5.11.14
v5.11.15
v5.11.16
v5.11.17
v5.11.18
v5.11.19
v5.11.2
v5.11.20
v5.11.21
v5.11.3
v5.11.4
v5.11.5
v5.11.6
v5.11.7
v5.11.8
v5.11.9
v5.12.1
v5.12.10
v5.12.11
v5.12.12
v5.12.13
v5.12.14
v5.12.15
v5.12.16
v5.12.17
v5.12.18
v5.12.19
v5.12.2
v5.12.3
v5.12.4
v5.12.5
v5.12.6
v5.12.7
v5.12.8
v5.12.9
v5.13.1
v5.13.10
v5.13.11
v5.13.12
v5.13.13
v5.13.14
v5.13.15
v5.13.16
v5.13.17
v5.13.18
v5.13.2
v5.13.3
v5.13.4
v5.13.5
v5.13.6
v5.13.7
v5.13.8
v5.13.9
v5.14.1
v5.14.10
v5.14.11
v5.14.12
v5.14.13
v5.14.14
v5.14.15
v5.14.16
v5.14.17
v5.14.18
v5.14.19
v5.14.2
v5.14.20
v5.14.3
v5.14.4
v5.14.5
v5.14.6
v5.14.7
v5.14.8
v5.14.9
v5.15.1
v5.15.10
v5.15.11
v5.15.12
v5.15.13
v5.15.14
v5.15.15
v5.15.16
v5.15.17
v5.15.179
v5.15.18
v5.15.180
v5.15.181
v5.15.182
v5.15.19
v5.15.2
v5.15.3
v5.15.4
v5.15.5
v5.15.6
v5.15.7
v5.15.8
v5.15.9
v5.16.1
v5.16.10
v5.16.11
v5.16.12
v5.16.13
v5.16.14
v5.16.15
v5.16.16
v5.16.17
v5.16.18
v5.16.19
v5.16.2
v5.16.20
v5.16.3
v5.16.4
v5.16.5
v5.16.6
v5.16.7
v5.16.8
v5.16.9
v5.17.1
v5.17.10
v5.17.11
v5.17.12
v5.17.13
v5.17.14
v5.17.2
v5.17.3
v5.17.4
v5.17.5
v5.17.6
v5.17.7
v5.17.8
v5.17.9
v5.18.1
v5.18.10
v5.18.11
v5.18.12
v5.18.13
v5.18.14
v5.18.15
v5.18.16
v5.18.17
v5.18.18
v5.18.19
v5.18.2
v5.18.3
v5.18.4
v5.18.5
v5.18.6
v5.18.7
v5.18.8
v5.18.9
v5.19.1
v5.19.10
v5.19.11
v5.19.12
v5.19.13
v5.19.14
v5.19.15
v5.19.16
v5.19.2
v5.19.3
v5.19.4
v5.19.5
v5.19.6
v5.19.7
v5.19.8
v5.19.9
v5.6.1
v5.6.10
v5.6.11
v5.6.12
v5.6.13
v5.6.14
v5.6.15
v5.6.16
v5.6.17
v5.6.18
v5.6.2
v5.6.3
v5.6.4
v5.6.5
v5.6.6
v5.6.7
v5.6.8
v5.6.9
v5.7.1
v5.7.10
v5.7.11
v5.7.12
v5.7.13
v5.7.14
v5.7.15
v5.7.16
v5.7.2
v5.7.3
v5.7.4
v5.7.5
v5.7.6
v5.7.7
v5.7.8
v5.7.9
v5.8.1
v5.8.10
v5.8.11
v5.8.12
v5.8.13
v5.8.14
v5.8.15
v5.8.16
v5.8.17
v5.8.18
v5.8.2
v5.8.3
v5.8.4
v5.8.5
v5.8.6
v5.8.7
v5.8.8
v5.8.9
v5.9.1
v5.9.10
v5.9.11
v5.9.12
v5.9.13
v5.9.14
v5.9.15
v5.9.16
v5.9.2
v5.9.3
v5.9.4
v5.9.5
v5.9.6
v5.9.7
v5.9.8
v5.9.9

v6.*

v6.0.1
v6.0.10
v6.0.11
v6.0.12
v6.0.13
v6.0.14
v6.0.15
v6.0.16
v6.0.17
v6.0.18
v6.0.2
v6.0.3
v6.0.4
v6.0.5
v6.0.6
v6.0.7
v6.0.8
v6.0.9
v6.1.1
v6.1.10
v6.1.11
v6.1.12
v6.1.129
v6.1.13
v6.1.130
v6.1.131
v6.1.132
v6.1.133
v6.1.134
v6.1.135
v6.1.136
v6.1.137
v6.1.138
v6.1.14
v6.1.15
v6.1.2
v6.1.3
v6.1.4
v6.1.5
v6.1.6
v6.1.7
v6.1.8
v6.1.9
v6.10.1
v6.10.10
v6.10.11
v6.10.12
v6.10.13
v6.10.2
v6.10.3
v6.10.4
v6.10.5
v6.10.6
v6.10.7
v6.10.8
v6.10.9
v6.11.1
v6.11.10
v6.11.11
v6.11.2
v6.11.3
v6.11.4
v6.11.5
v6.11.6
v6.11.7
v6.11.8
v6.11.9
v6.12
v6.12.1
v6.12.10
v6.12.11
v6.12.12
v6.12.13
v6.12.14
v6.12.16
v6.12.17
v6.12.18
v6.12.19
v6.12.2
v6.12.20
v6.12.21
v6.12.22
v6.12.23
v6.12.24
v6.12.25
v6.12.26
v6.12.27
v6.12.28
v6.12.3
v6.12.4
v6.12.5
v6.12.6
v6.12.7
v6.12.8
v6.12.9
v6.13
v6.13-rc1
v6.13-rc2
v6.13-rc3
v6.13-rc4
v6.13-rc5
v6.13-rc6
v6.13-rc7
v6.13.10
v6.13.11
v6.13.12
v6.13.4
v6.13.5
v6.13.6
v6.13.7
v6.13.8
v6.13.9
v6.14
v6.14-rc1
v6.14-rc2
v6.14-rc3
v6.14-rc4
v6.14-rc5
v6.14-rc6
v6.14-rc7
v6.14.1
v6.14.10
v6.14.11
v6.14.2
v6.14.3
v6.14.4
v6.14.5
v6.14.6
v6.14.7
v6.14.8
v6.14.9
v6.15
v6.15-rc1
v6.15-rc2
v6.15-rc3
v6.15-rc4
v6.15-rc5
v6.15-rc6
v6.15-rc7
v6.15.1
v6.15.10
v6.15.11
v6.15.2
v6.15.3
v6.15.4
v6.15.5
v6.15.6
v6.15.7
v6.15.8
v6.15.9
v6.16
v6.16-rc1
v6.16-rc2
v6.16-rc3
v6.16-rc4
v6.16-rc5
v6.16-rc6
v6.16-rc7
v6.16.1
v6.16.10
v6.16.11
v6.16.2
v6.16.3
v6.16.4
v6.16.5
v6.16.6
v6.16.7
v6.16.8
v6.16.9
v6.2.1
v6.2.10
v6.2.11
v6.2.12
v6.2.13
v6.2.14
v6.2.15
v6.2.2
v6.2.3
v6.2.4
v6.2.5
v6.2.6
v6.2.7
v6.2.8
v6.2.9
v6.3.1
v6.3.10
v6.3.11
v6.3.12
v6.3.2
v6.3.3
v6.3.4
v6.3.5
v6.3.6
v6.3.7
v6.3.8
v6.3.9
v6.4.1
v6.4.10
v6.4.11
v6.4.12
v6.4.13
v6.4.14
v6.4.15
v6.4.16
v6.4.2
v6.4.3
v6.4.4
v6.4.5
v6.4.6
v6.4.7
v6.4.8
v6.4.9
v6.5.1
v6.5.10
v6.5.11
v6.5.12
v6.5.13
v6.5.2
v6.5.3
v6.5.4
v6.5.5
v6.5.6
v6.5.7
v6.5.8
v6.5.9
v6.6.1
v6.6.10
v6.6.11
v6.6.12
v6.6.13
v6.6.14
v6.6.2
v6.6.3
v6.6.4
v6.6.5
v6.6.6
v6.6.7
v6.6.79
v6.6.8
v6.6.80
v6.6.81
v6.6.82
v6.6.83
v6.6.84
v6.6.85
v6.6.86
v6.6.87
v6.6.88
v6.6.89
v6.6.9
v6.6.90
v6.7.1
v6.7.10
v6.7.11
v6.7.2
v6.7.3
v6.7.4
v6.7.5
v6.7.6
v6.7.7
v6.7.8
v6.7.9
v6.8.1
v6.8.10
v6.8.11
v6.8.2
v6.8.3
v6.8.4
v6.8.5
v6.8.6
v6.8.7
v6.8.8
v6.8.9
v6.9.1
v6.9.10
v6.9.11
v6.9.12
v6.9.2
v6.9.3
v6.9.4
v6.9.5
v6.9.6
v6.9.7
v6.9.8
v6.9.9

Linux / Kernel

Package

Name
Kernel

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
0Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
5.15.183
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
5.16.0
Fixed
6.1.139
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.2.0
Fixed
6.6.91
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.7.0
Fixed
6.12.29
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.13.0
Fixed
6.14.7