Kernel memory exhaustion via leaked DAMON contexts
Published Dec 4, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Memory leak in Linux kernel 6.15 through 6.17.5 allows local users with root permission to consume kernel memory via DAMON commits. damon_sysfs_commit_input() allocates a test damon_ctx, but its success path previously skipped damon_destroy_ctx(), leaking the context after validation. Exploitation requires CONFIG_DAMON_SYSFS, root access to the admin sysfs tree, and repeated successful commits to produce cumulative kernel-memory loss.
Summary
What happened
Memory leak in Linux kernel 6.15 through 6.17.5 allows local users with root permission to consume kernel memory via DAMON commits. damon_sysfs_commit_input() allocates a test damon_ctx, but its success path previously skipped damon_destroy_ctx(), leaking the context after validation. Exploitation requires CONFIG_DAMON_SYSFS, root access to the admin sysfs tree, and repeated successful commits to produce cumulative kernel-memory loss.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-40227
- Published
- Dec 4, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 4, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=4c9ea539ad59ec60676930dacee02b7adde2e0c0 <139e7a572af0b45f558b5e502121a768dc328ba8
- Affected versionversion=4c9ea539ad59ec60676930dacee02b7adde2e0c0 <ba236520ae53418859f4b7c7de3c71478d3c0b5a
- Affected versionversion=6.15
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
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Public exploit references
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