GHSA-M8F2-RW7M-JRXF
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-01-14 15:33 – Updated: 2026-01-14 15:33In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/slub: reset KASAN tag in defer_free() before accessing freed memory
When CONFIG_SLUB_TINY is enabled, kfree_nolock() calls kasan_slab_free() before defer_free(). On ARM64 with MTE (Memory Tagging Extension), kasan_slab_free() poisons the memory and changes the tag from the original (e.g., 0xf3) to a poison tag (0xfe).
When defer_free() then tries to write to the freed object to build the deferred free list via llist_add(), the pointer still has the old tag, causing a tag mismatch and triggering a KASAN use-after-free report:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in defer_free+0x3c/0xbc mm/slub.c:6537 Write at addr f3f000000854f020 by task kworker/u8:6/983 Pointer tag: [f3], memory tag: [fe]
Fix this by calling kasan_reset_tag() before accessing the freed memory. This is safe because defer_free() is part of the allocator itself and is expected to manipulate freed memory for bookkeeping purposes.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-71110"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-01-14T15:16:00Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/slub: reset KASAN tag in defer_free() before accessing freed memory\n\nWhen CONFIG_SLUB_TINY is enabled, kfree_nolock() calls kasan_slab_free()\nbefore defer_free(). On ARM64 with MTE (Memory Tagging Extension),\nkasan_slab_free() poisons the memory and changes the tag from the\noriginal (e.g., 0xf3) to a poison tag (0xfe).\n\nWhen defer_free() then tries to write to the freed object to build the\ndeferred free list via llist_add(), the pointer still has the old tag,\ncausing a tag mismatch and triggering a KASAN use-after-free report:\n\n BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in defer_free+0x3c/0xbc mm/slub.c:6537\n Write at addr f3f000000854f020 by task kworker/u8:6/983\n Pointer tag: [f3], memory tag: [fe]\n\nFix this by calling kasan_reset_tag() before accessing the freed memory.\nThis is safe because defer_free() is part of the allocator itself and is\nexpected to manipulate freed memory for bookkeeping purposes.",
"id": "GHSA-m8f2-rw7m-jrxf",
"modified": "2026-01-14T15:33:00Z",
"published": "2026-01-14T15:33:00Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71110"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/53ca00a19d345197a37a1bf552e8d1e7b091666c"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/65d4e5af2a2e82f4fc50d8259aee208fbc6b2c1d"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
Sightings
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