5.5

CVE-2025-39756

fs: Prevent file descriptor table allocations exceeding INT_MAX

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

fs: Prevent file descriptor table allocations exceeding INT_MAX

When sysctl_nr_open is set to a very high value (for example, 1073741816
as set by systemd), processes attempting to use file descriptors near
the limit can trigger massive memory allocation attempts that exceed
INT_MAX, resulting in a WARNING in mm/slub.c:

  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 44 at mm/slub.c:5027 __kvmalloc_node_noprof+0x21a/0x288

This happens because kvmalloc_array() and kvmalloc() check if the
requested size exceeds INT_MAX and emit a warning when the allocation is
not flagged with __GFP_NOWARN.

Specifically, when nr_open is set to 1073741816 (0x3ffffff8) and a
process calls dup2(oldfd, 1073741880), the kernel attempts to allocate:
- File descriptor array: 1073741880 * 8 bytes = 8,589,935,040 bytes
- Multiple bitmaps: ~400MB
- Total allocation size: > 8GB (exceeding INT_MAX = 2,147,483,647)

Reproducer:
1. Set /proc/sys/fs/nr_open to 1073741816:
   # echo 1073741816 > /proc/sys/fs/nr_open

2. Run a program that uses a high file descriptor:
   #include <unistd.h>
   #include <sys/resource.h>

   int main() {
       struct rlimit rlim = {1073741824, 1073741824};
       setrlimit(RLIMIT_NOFILE, &rlim);
       dup2(2, 1073741880);  // Triggers the warning
       return 0;
   }

3. Observe WARNING in dmesg at mm/slub.c:5027

systemd commit a8b627a introduced automatic bumping of fs.nr_open to the
maximum possible value. The rationale was that systems with memory
control groups (memcg) no longer need separate file descriptor limits
since memory is properly accounted. However, this change overlooked
that:

1. The kernel's allocation functions still enforce INT_MAX as a maximum
   size regardless of memcg accounting
2. Programs and tests that legitimately test file descriptor limits can
   inadvertently trigger massive allocations
3. The resulting allocations (>8GB) are impractical and will always fail

systemd's algorithm starts with INT_MAX and keeps halving the value
until the kernel accepts it. On most systems, this results in nr_open
being set to 1073741816 (0x3ffffff8), which is just under 1GB of file
descriptors.

While processes rarely use file descriptors near this limit in normal
operation, certain selftests (like
tools/testing/selftests/core/unshare_test.c) and programs that test file
descriptor limits can trigger this issue.

Fix this by adding a check in alloc_fdtable() to ensure the requested
allocation size does not exceed INT_MAX. This causes the operation to
fail with -EMFILE instead of triggering a kernel warning and avoids the
impractical >8GB memory allocation request.
Daten sind bereitgestellt durch National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 2.6.25 < 5.4.297
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 5.5 < 5.10.241
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 5.11 < 5.15.190
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 5.16 < 6.1.149
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 6.2 < 6.6.103
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 6.7 < 6.12.43
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 6.13 < 6.15.11
LinuxLinux Kernel Version >= 6.16 < 6.16.2
DebianDebian Linux Version11.0
VulnDex Vulnerability Enrichment
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Zu dieser CVE wurde keine Warnung gefunden.
EPSS Metriken
Typ Quelle Score Percentile
EPSS FIRST.org 0.17% 0.062
CVSS Metriken
Quelle Base Score Exploit Score Impact Score Vector String
nvd@nist.gov 5.5 1.8 3.6
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-401 Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4159c5a90c03f8acd3de345a7f5fc63b0909818
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f95638a8f22eba307dceddf5aef9ae2326bbcf98
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/749528086620f8012b83ae032a80f6ffa80c45cd
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/628fc28f42d979f36dbf75a6129ac7730e30c04e
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/237e416eb62101f21b28c9e6e564d10efe1ecc6f
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d4f9351243c17865a8cdbe6b3ccd09d0b13a7bcc
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f61fa6a2a89a610120bc4e5d24379c667314b5c
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dfd1f4ea98c3bd3a03d12169b5b2daa1f0a3e4ae
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/04a2c4b4511d186b0fce685da21085a5d4acd370
Patch
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html
Third Party Advisory
Mailing List
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html
Third Party Advisory
Mailing List
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-032379.html
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-082556.html