Fix page corruption caused by racy check in __free_pages

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2023-52739
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerLinux
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2024-05-21 16:15:13 UTC
Updated2026-08-04 10:18:39 UTC
DescriptionIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Fix page corruption caused by racy check in __free_pages When we upgraded our kernel, we started seeing some page corruption like the following consistently: BUG: Bad page state in process ganesha.nfsd pfn:1304ca page:0000000022261c55 refcount:0 mapcount:-128 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x1304ca flags: 0x17ffffc0000000() raw: 0017ffffc0000000 ffff8a513ffd4c98 ffffeee24b35ec08 0000000000000000 raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000000001 00000000ffffff7f 0000000000000000 page dumped because: nonzero mapcount CPU: 0 PID: 15567 Comm: ganesha.nfsd Kdump: loaded Tainted: P B O 5.10.158-1.nutanix.20221209.el7.x86_64 #1 Hardware name: VMware, Inc. VMware Virtual Platform/440BX Desktop Reference Platform, BIOS 6.00 04/05/2016 Call Trace: dump_stack+0x74/0x96 bad_page.cold+0x63/0x94 check_new_page_bad+0x6d/0x80 rmqueue+0x46e/0x970 get_page_from_freelist+0xcb/0x3f0 ? _cond_resched+0x19/0x40 __alloc_pages_nodemask+0x164/0x300 alloc_pages_current+0x87/0xf0 skb_page_frag_refill+0x84/0x110 ... Sometimes, it would also show up as corruption in the free list pointer and cause crashes. After bisecting the issue, we found the issue started from commit e320d3012d25 ("mm/page_alloc.c: fix freeing non-compound pages"): if (put_page_testzero(page)) free_the_page(page, order); else if (!PageHead(page)) while (order-- > 0) free_the_page(page + (1 << order), order); So the problem is the check PageHead is racy because at this point we already dropped our reference to the page. So even if we came in with compound page, the page can already be freed and PageHead can return false and we will end up freeing all the tail pages causing double free.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Problem Types: CWE-415

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary5.5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.1416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67Secondary7.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED7.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Linux Linux Kernel All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Linux Linux affected e320d3012d25b1fb5f3df4edb7bd44a1c362ec10 0a626e27f984dfbe96bd8e4fd08f20a2ede3ea23 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected e320d3012d25b1fb5f3df4edb7bd44a1c362ec10 3af734f3eac6f70ef8e272a80da40544b9d0f2b5 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected e320d3012d25b1fb5f3df4edb7bd44a1c362ec10 3b4c045a98f53a8890a94bb5846a390c8e39e673 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected e320d3012d25b1fb5f3df4edb7bd44a1c362ec10 462a8e08e0e6287e5ce13187257edbf24213ed03 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 830b103831a924a23af48562c4d274696e75ab4f git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 5.9.2 5.10 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 5.10 Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 5.10 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 5.10.168 5.10.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 5.15.94 5.15.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.1.12 6.1.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.2 * original_commit_for_fix Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
git.kernel.org/stable/c/462a8e08e0e6287e5ce13187257edbf24213ed03 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b4c045a98f53a8890a94bb5846a390c8e39e673 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/0a626e27f984dfbe96bd8e4fd08f20a2ede3ea23 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/3af734f3eac6f70ef8e272a80da40544b9d0f2b5 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
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