CVE-2025-39961

  • Published: 2025-10-09T13:15:32.250

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

iommu/amd/pgtbl: Fix possible race while increase page table level

The AMD IOMMU host page table implementation supports dynamic page table levels
(up to 6 levels), starting with a 3-level configuration that expands based on
IOVA address. The kernel maintains a root pointer and current page table level
to enable proper page table walks in alloc_pte()/fetch_pte() operations.

The IOMMU IOVA allocator initially starts with 32-bit address and onces its
exhuasted it switches to 64-bit address (max address is determined based
on IOMMU and device DMA capability). To support larger IOVA, AMD IOMMU
driver increases page table level.

But in unmap path (iommu_v1_unmap_pages()), fetch_pte() reads
pgtable->[root/mode] without lock. So its possible that in exteme corner case,
when increase_address_space() is updating pgtable->[root/mode], fetch_pte()
reads wrong page table level (pgtable->mode). It does compare the value with
level encoded in page table and returns NULL. This will result is
iommu_unmap ops to fail and upper layer may retry/log WARN_ON.

CPU 0 CPU 1
—— ——
map pages unmap pages
alloc_pte() -> increase_address_space() iommu_v1_unmap_pages() -> fetch_pte()
pgtable->root = pte (new root value)
READ pgtable->[mode/root]
Reads new root, old mode
Updates mode (pgtable->mode += 1)

Since Page table level updates are infrequent and already synchronized with a
spinlock, implement seqcount to enable lock-free read operations on the read path.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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How to fix CVE-2025-39961

CVE-2025-39961 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/amd/pgtbl: Fix possible race while increase page table level The AMD IOMMU host page table implementation supports dynamic page table levels (up to 6 levels), starting with a 3-level configuration that expands based on IOVA address. The kernel maintains a root pointer and current page […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Oct 09, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.