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

codetag: debug: handle existing CODETAG_EMPTY in mark_objexts_empty for slabobj_ext

When alloc_slab_obj_exts() fails and then later succeeds in allocating a
slab extension vector, it calls handle_failed_objexts_alloc() to mark all
objects in the vector as empty. As a result all objects in this slab
(slabA) will have their extensions set to CODETAG_EMPTY.

Later on if this slabA is used to allocate a slabobj_ext vector for
another slab (slabB), we end up with the slabB->obj_exts pointing to a
slabobj_ext vector that itself has a non-NULL slabobj_ext equal to
CODETAG_EMPTY. When slabB gets freed, free_slab_obj_exts() is called to
free slabB->obj_exts vector.

free_slab_obj_exts() calls mark_objexts_empty(slabB->obj_exts) which will
generate a warning because it expects slabobj_ext vectors to have a NULL
obj_ext, not CODETAG_EMPTY.

Modify mark_objexts_empty() to skip the warning and setting the obj_ext
value if it's already set to CODETAG_EMPTY.


To quickly detect this WARN, I modified the code from
WARN_ON(slab_exts[offs].ref.ct) to BUG_ON(slab_exts[offs].ref.ct == 1);

We then obtained this message:

[21630.898561] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[21630.898596] kernel BUG at mm/slub.c:2050!
[21630.898611] Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] SMP
[21630.900372] Modules linked in: squashfs isofs vfio_iommu_type1
vhost_vsock vfio vhost_net vmw_vsock_virtio_transport_common vhost tap
vhost_iotlb iommufd vsock binfmt_misc nfsv3 nfs_acl nfs lockd grace
netfs tls rds dns_resolver tun brd overlay ntfs3 exfat btrfs
blake2b_generic xor xor_neon raid6_pq loop sctp ip6_udp_tunnel
udp_tunnel nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib
nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct
nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4
nf_tables rfkill ip_set sunrpc vfat fat joydev sg sch_fq_codel nfnetlink
virtio_gpu sr_mod cdrom drm_client_lib virtio_dma_buf drm_shmem_helper
drm_kms_helper drm ghash_ce backlight virtio_net virtio_blk virtio_scsi
net_failover virtio_console failover virtio_mmio dm_mirror
dm_region_hash dm_log dm_multipath dm_mod fuse i2c_dev virtio_pci
virtio_pci_legacy_dev virtio_pci_modern_dev virtio virtio_ring autofs4
aes_neon_bs aes_ce_blk [last unloaded: hwpoison_inject]
[21630.909177] CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 3787 Comm: kylin-process-m Kdump:
loaded Tainted: G        W           6.18.0-rc1+ #74 PREEMPT(voluntary)
[21630.910495] Tainted: [W]=WARN
[21630.910867] Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS unknown
2/2/2022
[21630.911625] pstate: 80400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS
BTYPE=--)
[21630.912392] pc : __free_slab+0x228/0x250
[21630.912868] lr : __free_slab+0x18c/0x250[21630.913334] sp :
ffff8000a02f73e0
[21630.913830] x29: ffff8000a02f73e0 x28: fffffdffc43fc800 x27:
ffff0000c0011c40
[21630.914677] x26: ffff0000c000cac0 x25: ffff00010fe5e5f0 x24:
ffff000102199b40
[21630.915469] x23: 0000000000000003 x22: 0000000000000003 x21:
ffff0000c0011c40
[21630.916259] x20: fffffdffc4086600 x19: fffffdffc43fc800 x18:
0000000000000000
[21630.917048] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15:
0000000000000000
[21630.917837] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12:
ffff70001405ee66
[21630.918640] x11: 1ffff0001405ee65 x10: ffff70001405ee65 x9 :
ffff800080a295dc
[21630.919442] x8 : ffff8000a02f7330 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 :
0000000000003000
[21630.920232] x5 : 0000000024924925 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 :
0000000000000007
[21630.921021] x2 : 0000000000001b40 x1 : 000000000000001f x0 :
0000000000000001
[21630.921810] Call trace:
[21630.922130]  __free_slab+0x228/0x250 (P)
[21630.922669]  free_slab+0x38/0x118
[21630.923079]  free_to_partial_list+0x1d4/0x340
[21630.923591]  __slab_free+0x24c/0x348
[21630.924024]  ___cache_free+0xf0/0x110
[21630.924468]  qlist_free_all+0x78/0x130
[21630.924922]  kasan_quarantine_reduce+0x11
---truncated---
Published: 2025-12-16
Score: 7.0 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

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Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8029-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8030-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8029-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8048-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8029-3 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
History

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 12:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: codetag: debug: handle existing CODETAG_EMPTY in mark_objexts_empty for slabobj_ext When alloc_slab_obj_exts() fails and then later succeeds in allocating a slab extension vector, it calls handle_failed_objexts_alloc() to mark all objects in the vector as empty. As a result all objects in this slab (slabA) will have their extensions set to CODETAG_EMPTY. Later on if this slabA is used to allocate a slabobj_ext vector for another slab (slabB), we end up with the slabB->obj_exts pointing to a slabobj_ext vector that itself has a non-NULL slabobj_ext equal to CODETAG_EMPTY. When slabB gets freed, free_slab_obj_exts() is called to free slabB->obj_exts vector. free_slab_obj_exts() calls mark_objexts_empty(slabB->obj_exts) which will generate a warning because it expects slabobj_ext vectors to have a NULL obj_ext, not CODETAG_EMPTY. Modify mark_objexts_empty() to skip the warning and setting the obj_ext value if it's already set to CODETAG_EMPTY. To quickly detect this WARN, I modified the code from WARN_ON(slab_exts[offs].ref.ct) to BUG_ON(slab_exts[offs].ref.ct == 1); We then obtained this message: [21630.898561] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [21630.898596] kernel BUG at mm/slub.c:2050! [21630.898611] Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] SMP [21630.900372] Modules linked in: squashfs isofs vfio_iommu_type1 vhost_vsock vfio vhost_net vmw_vsock_virtio_transport_common vhost tap vhost_iotlb iommufd vsock binfmt_misc nfsv3 nfs_acl nfs lockd grace netfs tls rds dns_resolver tun brd overlay ntfs3 exfat btrfs blake2b_generic xor xor_neon raid6_pq loop sctp ip6_udp_tunnel udp_tunnel nft_fib_inet nft_fib_ipv4 nft_fib_ipv6 nft_fib nft_reject_inet nf_reject_ipv4 nf_reject_ipv6 nft_reject nft_ct nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 nf_tables rfkill ip_set sunrpc vfat fat joydev sg sch_fq_codel nfnetlink virtio_gpu sr_mod cdrom drm_client_lib virtio_dma_buf drm_shmem_helper drm_kms_helper drm ghash_ce backlight virtio_net virtio_blk virtio_scsi net_failover virtio_console failover virtio_mmio dm_mirror dm_region_hash dm_log dm_multipath dm_mod fuse i2c_dev virtio_pci virtio_pci_legacy_dev virtio_pci_modern_dev virtio virtio_ring autofs4 aes_neon_bs aes_ce_blk [last unloaded: hwpoison_inject] [21630.909177] CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 3787 Comm: kylin-process-m Kdump: loaded Tainted: G        W           6.18.0-rc1+ #74 PREEMPT(voluntary) [21630.910495] Tainted: [W]=WARN [21630.910867] Hardware name: QEMU KVM Virtual Machine, BIOS unknown 2/2/2022 [21630.911625] pstate: 80400005 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [21630.912392] pc : __free_slab+0x228/0x250 [21630.912868] lr : __free_slab+0x18c/0x250[21630.913334] sp : ffff8000a02f73e0 [21630.913830] x29: ffff8000a02f73e0 x28: fffffdffc43fc800 x27: ffff0000c0011c40 [21630.914677] x26: ffff0000c000cac0 x25: ffff00010fe5e5f0 x24: ffff000102199b40 [21630.915469] x23: 0000000000000003 x22: 0000000000000003 x21: ffff0000c0011c40 [21630.916259] x20: fffffdffc4086600 x19: fffffdffc43fc800 x18: 0000000000000000 [21630.917048] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000000 [21630.917837] x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffff70001405ee66 [21630.918640] x11: 1ffff0001405ee65 x10: ffff70001405ee65 x9 : ffff800080a295dc [21630.919442] x8 : ffff8000a02f7330 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000003000 [21630.920232] x5 : 0000000024924925 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 0000000000000007 [21630.921021] x2 : 0000000000001b40 x1 : 000000000000001f x0 : 0000000000000001 [21630.921810] Call trace: [21630.922130]  __free_slab+0x228/0x250 (P) [21630.922669]  free_slab+0x38/0x118 [21630.923079]  free_to_partial_list+0x1d4/0x340 [21630.923591]  __slab_free+0x24c/0x348 [21630.924024]  ___cache_free+0xf0/0x110 [21630.924468]  qlist_free_all+0x78/0x130 [21630.924922]  kasan_quarantine_reduce+0x11 ---truncated---
Title codetag: debug: handle existing CODETAG_EMPTY in mark_objexts_empty for slabobj_ext
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Subscriptions

Linux Linux Kernel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-11T21:48:34.800Z

Reserved: 2025-12-16T13:41:40.254Z

Link: CVE-2025-68199

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Deferred

Published: 2025-12-16T14:15:52.707

Modified: 2026-04-15T00:35:42.020

Link: CVE-2025-68199

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2025-12-16T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2025-68199 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.