Upstream information

CVE-2025-68211 at MITRE

Description

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

ksm: use range-walk function to jump over holes in scan_get_next_rmap_item

Currently, scan_get_next_rmap_item() walks every page address in a VMA to
locate mergeable pages. This becomes highly inefficient when scanning
large virtual memory areas that contain mostly unmapped regions, causing
ksmd to use large amount of cpu without deduplicating much pages.

This patch replaces the per-address lookup with a range walk using
walk_page_range(). The range walker allows KSM to skip over entire
unmapped holes in a VMA, avoiding unnecessary lookups. This problem was
previously discussed in [1].

Consider the following test program which creates a 32 TiB mapping in the
virtual address space but only populates a single page:

#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>

/* 32 TiB */
const size_t size = 32ul * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024;

int main() {
char *area = mmap(NULL, size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
MAP_NORESERVE | MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANON, -1, 0);

if (area == MAP_FAILED) {
perror("mmap() failed\n");
return -1;
}

/* Populate a single page such that we get an anon_vma. */
*area = 0;

/* Enable KSM. */
madvise(area, size, MADV_MERGEABLE);
pause();
return 0;
}

$ ./ksm-sparse &
$ echo 1 > /sys/kernel/mm/ksm/run

Without this patch ksmd uses 100% of the cpu for a long time (more then 1
hour in my test machine) scanning all the 32 TiB virtual address space
that contain only one mapped page. This makes ksmd essentially deadlocked
not able to deduplicate anything of value. With this patch ksmd walks
only the one mapped page and skips the rest of the 32 TiB virtual address
space, making the scan fast using little cpu.

SUSE information

Overall state of this security issue: Pending

This issue is currently rated as having moderate severity.

CVSS v3 Scores
CVSS detail SUSE
Base Score 5.5
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact None
Integrity Impact None
Availability Impact High
CVSSv3 Version 3.1
CVSS v4 Scores
CVSS detail SUSE
Base Score 6.8
Vector CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements None
Privileges Required Low
User Interaction None
Vulnerable System Confidentiality Impact None
Vulnerable System Integrity Impact None
Vulnerable System Availability Impact High
Subsequent System Confidentiality Impact None
Subsequent System Integrity Impact None
Subsequent System Availability Impact None
CVSSv4 Version 4.0

Note from the SUSE Security Team on the kernel-default package

SUSE will no longer fix all CVEs in the Linux Kernel anymore, but declare some bug classes as won't fix. Please refer to TID 21496 for more details.

SUSE Bugzilla entry: 1255319 [NEW]

No SUSE Security Announcements cross referenced.


Status of this issue by product and package

Please note that this evaluation state might be work in progress, incomplete or outdated. Also information for service packs in the LTSS phase is only included for issues meeting the LTSS criteria. If in doubt, feel free to contact us for clarification. The updates are grouped by state of their lifecycle. SUSE product lifecycles are documented on the lifecycle page.

Product(s) Source package State
Products under general support and receiving all security fixes.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP7 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 kernel-source-azure Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-source-rt Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-default Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-source Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-source-azure Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-source-rt Affected
Products under Long Term Service Pack support and receiving important and critical security fixes.
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP3 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP3 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP4 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS Extended Security kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS Extended Security kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 kernel-source Affected
Products past their end of life and not receiving proactive updates anymore.
SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Enterprise Storage 6 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 kernel-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 12 SP2-CLIENT kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-BCL kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-ESPOS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-BCL kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-BCL kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15-LTSS kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15-LTSS kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for Raspberry Pi 12 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 kernel-default Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.0 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.0 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.1 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.2 kernel-source Affected
SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7 kernel-source Affected
SUSE OpenStack Cloud 9 kernel-source Affected
SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 kernel-source Affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP3 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP4 kernel-source-rt Affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.3 kernel-source Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.3 kernel-source-rt Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.4 kernel-source Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.4 kernel-source-rt Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-source Affected
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-source-rt Affected
Products at an unknown state of their lifecycle.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 16.0 kernel-source Affected


SUSE Timeline for this CVE

CVE page created: Tue Dec 16 16:02:25 2025
CVE page last modified: Mon Dec 22 12:51:38 2025