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Linux Kernel CVE-2025-39881

HIGH
Use After Free (CWE-416)
2025-09-23 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
7.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY
7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
SUSE
HIGH
qualitative
Red Hat
7.3 MEDIUM
qualitative

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Analysis Generated
Mar 28, 2026 - 19:13 vuln.today
Patch released
Mar 28, 2026 - 19:13 nvd
Patch available
CVE Published
Sep 23, 2025 - 06:15 nvd
HIGH 7.8

DescriptionCVE.org

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

kernfs: Fix UAF in polling when open file is released

A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability was identified in the PSI (Pressure Stall Information) monitoring mechanism:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in psi_trigger_poll+0x3c/0x140 Read of size 8 at addr ffff3de3d50bd308 by task systemd/1

psi_trigger_poll+0x3c/0x140 cgroup_pressure_poll+0x70/0xa0 cgroup_file_poll+0x8c/0x100 kernfs_fop_poll+0x11c/0x1c0 ep_item_poll.isra.0+0x188/0x2c0

Allocated by task 1: cgroup_file_open+0x88/0x388 kernfs_fop_open+0x73c/0xaf0 do_dentry_open+0x5fc/0x1200 vfs_open+0xa0/0x3f0 do_open+0x7e8/0xd08 path_openat+0x2fc/0x6b0 do_filp_open+0x174/0x368

Freed by task 8462: cgroup_file_release+0x130/0x1f8 kernfs_drain_open_files+0x17c/0x440 kernfs_drain+0x2dc/0x360 kernfs_show+0x1b8/0x288 cgroup_file_show+0x150/0x268 cgroup_pressure_write+0x1dc/0x340 cgroup_file_write+0x274/0x548

Reproduction Steps:

  1. Open test/cpu.pressure and establish epoll monitoring
  2. Disable monitoring: echo 0 > test/cgroup.pressure
  3. Re-enable monitoring: echo 1 > test/cgroup.pressure

The race condition occurs because:

  1. When cgroup.pressure is disabled (echo 0 > cgroup.pressure), it:
  • Releases PSI triggers via cgroup_file_release()
  • Frees of->priv through kernfs_drain_open_files()
  1. While epoll still holds reference to the file and continues polling
  2. Re-enabling (echo 1 > cgroup.pressure) accesses freed of->priv

epolling disable/enable cgroup.pressure fd=open(cpu.pressure) while(1) ... epoll_wait kernfs_fop_poll kernfs_get_active = true echo 0 > cgroup.pressure ... cgroup_file_show kernfs_show // inactive kn kernfs_drain_open_files cft->release(of); kfree(ctx); ... kernfs_get_active = false echo 1 > cgroup.pressure kernfs_show kernfs_activate_one(kn); kernfs_fop_poll kernfs_get_active = true cgroup_file_poll psi_trigger_poll // UAF ... end: close(fd)

To address this issue, introduce kernfs_get_active_of() for kernfs open files to obtain active references. This function will fail if the open file has been released. Replace kernfs_get_active() with kernfs_get_active_of() to prevent further operations on released file descriptors.

AnalysisAI

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kernfs: Fix UAF in polling when open file is released A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability was identified in the PSI (Pressure. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.

Technical ContextAI

This vulnerability is classified as Use After Free (CWE-416), which allows attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kernfs: Fix UAF in polling when open file is released A use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability was identified in the PSI (Pressure Stall Information) monitoring mechanism: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in psi_trigger_poll+0x3c/0x140 Read of size 8 at addr ffff3de3d50bd308 by task systemd/1 psi_trigger_poll+0x3c/0x140 cgroup_pressure_poll+0x70/0xa0 cgroup_file_poll+0x8c/0x100 kernfs_fop_poll+0x11c/0x1c0 ep_item_poll.isra.0+0x188/0x2c0 Allocated by task 1: cgroup_file_open+0x88/0x388 kernfs_fop_open+0x73c/0xaf0 do_dentry_open+0x5fc/0x1200 vfs_open+0xa0/0x3f0 do_open+0x7e8/0xd08 path_openat+0x2fc/0x6b0 do_filp_open+0x174/0x368 Freed by task 8462: cgroup_file_release+0x130/0x1f8 kernfs_drain_open_files+0x17c/0x440 kernfs_drain+0x2dc/0x360 kernfs_show+0x1b8/0x288 cgroup_file_show+0x150/0x268 cgroup_pressure_write+0x1dc/0x340 cgroup_file_write+0x274/0x548 Reproduction Steps: 1. Open test/cpu.pressure and establish epoll monitoring 2. Disable monitoring: echo 0 > test/cgroup.pressure 3. Re-enable monitoring: echo 1 > test/cgroup.pressure The race condition occurs because: 1. When cgroup.pressure is disabled (echo 0 > cgroup.pressure), it: - Releases PSI triggers via cgroup_file_release() - Frees of->priv through kernfs_drain_open_files() 2. While epoll still holds reference to the file and continues polling 3. Re-enabling (echo 1 > cgroup.pressure) accesses freed of->priv epolling disable/enable cgroup.pressure fd=open(cpu.pressure) while(1) ... epoll_wait kernfs_fop_poll kernfs_get_active = true echo 0 > cgroup.pressure ... cgroup_file_show kernfs_show // inactive kn kernfs_drain_open_files cft->release(of); kfree(ctx); ... kernfs_get_active = false echo 1 > cgroup.pressure kernfs_show kernfs_activate_one(kn); kernfs_fop_poll kernfs_get_active = true cgroup_file_poll psi_trigger_poll // UAF ... end: close(fd) To address this issue, introduce kernfs_get_active_of() for kernfs open files to obtain active references. This function will fail if the open file has been released. Replace kernfs_get_active() with kernfs_get_active_of() to prevent further operations on released file descriptors. Affected products include: Linux Linux Kernel, Debian Debian Linux.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Use smart pointers or garbage-collected languages. Set pointers to NULL after freeing. Enable memory sanitizers.

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: High
Product Status
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container:2.1.3-3.64 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/toolbox:13.2-6.19 Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container:2.1.3-7.65 Image SLE-Micro Image SLE-Micro-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SLE-Micro-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-GCE Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container:2.1.3-6.88 Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/rt-os-container:2.1.3-7.105 Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/base-os-container:2.2.1-5.52 Image SL-Micro-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SL-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SL-Micro-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-ltd Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-GCE Affected

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CVE-2025-39881 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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