CVE-2025-37878

MEDIUM EPSS 12.1%
Published May 9, 20251y ago · Modified Jun 17, 20262w ago
5.5 CVSS 3.1
Medium
Find Similar
Published May 9, 2025 1y ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 2w ago

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Fix WARN_ON(!ctx) in __free_event() for partial init Move the get_ctx(child_ctx) call and the child_event->ctx assignment to occur immediately after the child event is allocated. Ensure that child_event->ctx is non-NULL before any subsequent error path within inherit_event calls free_event(), satisfying the assumptions of the cleanup code. Details: There's no clear Fixes tag, because this bug is a side-effect of multiple interacting commits over time (up to 15 years old), not a single regression. The code initially incremented refcount then assigned context immediately after the child_event was created. Later, an early validity check for child_event was added before the refcount/assignment. Even later, a WARN_ON_ONCE() cleanup check was added, assuming event->ctx is valid if the pmu_ctx is valid. The problem is that the WARN_ON_ONCE() could trigger after the initial check passed but before child_event->ctx was assigned, violating its precondition. The solution is to assign child_event->ctx right after its initial validation. This ensures the context exists for any subsequent checks or cleanup routines, resolving the WARN_ON_ONCE(). To resolve it, defer the refcount update and child_event->ctx assignment directly after child_event->pmu_ctx is set but before checking if the parent event is orphaned. The cleanup routine depends on event->pmu_ctx being non-NULL before it verifies event->ctx is non-NULL. This also maintains the author's original intent of passing in child_ctx to find_get_pmu_context before its refcount/assignment. [ mingo: Expanded the changelog from another email by Gabriel Shahrouzi. ]

CVSS Details

Base Score
5.5
Exploitability
1.8
Impact
3.6
Vector string
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 None
Integrity None
Availability High

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
12.1% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
No Known Exploit
Patch Available

Weaknesses 1

CWE-617

Affected Products 4

VendorProductVersionRange
linuxlinux_kernel* <6.6.89
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.7  –  <6.12.26
linuxlinux_kernel*≥6.13  –  <6.14.5
linuxlinux_kernel6.15any

References 3

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ba3a4ab76fd3367b9cb680cad70182c896c795c
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90dc6c1e3b200812da8d0aa030e1b7fda8226d0e
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb56cd11feabf99e08bc18960700a53322ffcea7
    Patch

Remediation

  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0ba3a4ab76fd3367b9cb680cad70182c896c795c
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90dc6c1e3b200812da8d0aa030e1b7fda8226d0e
    Patch
  • git.kernel.org https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cb56cd11feabf99e08bc18960700a53322ffcea7
    Patch