System instability via incomplete slab extension cleanup
Published May 20, 2025 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Incomplete cleanup in Linux kernel 6.10 allows local users to destabilize the system by destroying affected slab pages. When memory allocation profiling shuts down, unaccount_slab() skips freeing slab->obj_exts because cleanup depends on profiling remaining enabled, leaving the page charged to its cgroup. Reaching attacker-controlled shutdown requires CAP_SYS_MODULE to load a failing module; the alternative boot-time error is not attacker-influenceable, and subsequent slab churn can provoke a bad-page-state failure.
Summary
What happened
Incomplete cleanup in Linux kernel 6.10 allows local users to destabilize the system by destroying affected slab pages. When memory allocation profiling shuts down, unaccount_slab() skips freeing slab->obj_exts because cleanup depends on profiling remaining enabled, leaving the page charged to its cgroup. Reaching attacker-controlled shutdown requires CAP_SYS_MODULE to load a failing module; the alternative boot-time error is not attacker-influenceable, and subsequent slab churn can provoke a bad-page-state failure.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-37908
- Published
- May 20, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-459, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 20, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=21c690a349baab895dc68ab70d291e1598d7109d <01db0e1a48345aa1937f3bdfc7c7108d03ebcf7e
- Affected versionversion=21c690a349baab895dc68ab70d291e1598d7109d <be8250786ca94952a19ce87f98ad9906448bc9ef
- Affected versionversion=21c690a349baab895dc68ab70d291e1598d7109d <dab2a13059a475b6392550f882276e170fe2fcff
- Affected versionversion=6.10
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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