Bug 2460685 (CVE-2026-31466)

Summary: CVE-2026-31466 kernel: mm/huge_memory: fix folio isn't locked in softleaf_to_folio()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A race condition exists in the memory management subsystem, specifically during transparent huge page (THP) splitting and page table entry invalidation. This can occur when a memory folio (a unit of memory) is accessed and modified without proper locking due to a missing memory barrier. This can lead to a kernel warning and potentially a system crash, resulting in a Denial of Service.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-04-22 15:05:23 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/huge_memory: fix folio isn't locked in softleaf_to_folio()

On arm64 server, we found folio that get from migration entry isn't locked
in softleaf_to_folio().  This issue triggers when mTHP splitting and
zap_nonpresent_ptes() races, and the root cause is lack of memory barrier
in softleaf_to_folio().  The race is as follows:

	CPU0                                             CPU1

deferred_split_scan()                              zap_nonpresent_ptes()
  lock folio
  split_folio()
    unmap_folio()
      change ptes to migration entries
    __split_folio_to_order()                         softleaf_to_folio()
      set flags(including PG_locked) for tail pages    folio = pfn_folio(softleaf_to_pfn(entry))
      smp_wmb()                                        VM_WARN_ON_ONCE(!folio_test_locked(folio))
      prep_compound_page() for tail pages

In __split_folio_to_order(), smp_wmb() guarantees page flags of tail pages
are visible before the tail page becomes non-compound.  smp_wmb() should
be paired with smp_rmb() in softleaf_to_folio(), which is missed.  As a
result, if zap_nonpresent_ptes() accesses migration entry that stores tail
pfn, softleaf_to_folio() may see the updated compound_head of tail page
before page->flags.

This issue will trigger VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() in pfn_swap_entry_folio()
because of the race between folio split and zap_nonpresent_ptes()
leading to a folio incorrectly undergoing modification without a folio
lock being held.

This is a BUG_ON() before commit 93976a20345b ("mm: eliminate further
swapops predicates"), which in merged in v6.19-rc1.

To fix it, add missing smp_rmb() if the softleaf entry is migration entry
in softleaf_to_folio() and softleaf_to_page().

[tujinjiang: update function name and comments]