CVE-2025-40270: mm, swap: fix potential UAF issue for VMA readahead

Published Dec 6, 2025
·
Updated

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

mm, swap: fix potential UAF issue for VMA readahead

Since commit 78524b05f1a3 ("mm, swap: avoid redundant swap device pinning"), the common helper for allocating and preparing a folio in the swap cache layer no longer tries to get a swap device reference internally, because all callers of readswapcacheasync are already holding a swap entry reference. The repeated swap device pinning isn't needed on the same swap device.

Caller of VMA readahead is also holding a reference to the target entry's swap device, but VMA readahead walks the page table, so it might encounter swap entries from other devices, and call readswapcacheasync on another device without holding a reference to it.

So it is possible to cause a UAF when swapoff of device A raced with swapin on device B, and VMA readahead tries to read swap entries from device A. It's not easy to trigger, but in theory, it could cause real issues.

Make VMA readahead try to get the device reference first if the swap device is a different one from the target entry.

Affected Software

1 affected component
Linux Linux kernel

Event History

Dec 6, 2025
CVE Published
via MITRE·09:50 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·09:50 PM
DescriptionSeverity
Data Sourced
via NVD·10:15 PM
DescriptionSeverity

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2025-40270?

CVE-2025-40270 has been classified with a severity rating that indicates a potential risk of unbounded access to memory, which could lead to system instability.

2

How do I fix CVE-2025-40270?

To fix CVE-2025-40270, ensure that your Linux kernel is updated to the latest version where this vulnerability has been addressed.

3

What systems are affected by CVE-2025-40270?

CVE-2025-40270 affects certain versions of the Linux kernel that use the swap cache layer.

4

What are the potential impacts of CVE-2025-40270?

The potential impacts of CVE-2025-40270 include possible memory corruption and system crashes due to a use-after-free issue.

5

Is CVE-2025-40270 being actively exploited?

As of now, there are no public reports indicating that CVE-2025-40270 is actively being exploited in the wild.

Contact

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