Use After Free in Linux

CVE-2025-39877

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/damon/sysfs: fix use-after-free in state_show() state_show() reads kdamond->damon_ctx without holding damon_sysfs_lock. This allows a use-after-free race: CPU 0 CPU 1 ----- ----- state_show() damon_sysfs_turn_damon_on() ctx = kdamond->damon_ctx; mutex_lock(&damon_sysfs_lock); damon_destroy_ctx(kdamond->damon_ctx); kdamond->damon_ctx = NULL; mutex_unlock(&damon_sysfs_lock); damon_is_running(ctx); /* ctx is freed */ mutex_lock(&ctx->kdamond_lock); /* UAF */ (The race can also occur with damon_sysfs_kdamonds_rm_dirs() and damon_sysfs_kdamond_release(), which free or replace the context under damon_sysfs_lock.) Fix by taking damon_sysfs_lock before dereferencing the context, mirroring the locking used in pid_show(). The bug has existed since state_show() first accessed kdamond->damon_ctx.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

EPSS: 0.001 (3.8th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-39877?
CVE-2025-39877 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-09-23.
How severe is CVE-2025-39877?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-39877 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.