CVE-2026-97525x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/mm/pat: Allocate split page tables as kernel page tables A PTE is allocated directly without going through the standard page table allocation routines (such as pte_alloc_one_kernel()) when the CPA code splits a large page (__split_large_page()). This means the page table constructor is never called nor is the page table marked as a kernel page table. The former results in the folio associated with the page table not being marked as a page table (__pagetable_ctor() is never called thus neither is __folio_set_pgtable()) nor are statistics updated to reflect it (lruvec_stat_add_folio() is never called). The latter issue of failing to mark the page table as a kernel page table (ptdesc_set_kernel() is never called) is far more problematic. Since commit: 5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables") kernel page table freeing has been batched and since the subsequent commit: e37d5a2d60a3 ("iommu/sva: invalidate stale IOTLB entries for kernel address space") IOTLB cache entries for kernel page tables have been invalidated upon being freed. Since split page tables are freed without this invalidation, the IOTLB can contain stale entries for them. Resolve the issue by using the ordinary PTE allocation API at split time. This results in these kernel page tables invoking a page table constructor, and thus requires a page table destructor. Destructors are not always present, like for early allocated direct map page tables). Conditionally call pagetable_dtor_free() if the PG_table folio flag for the ptdesc is set, otherwise we free the page table via pagetable_free(). Regardless of which path is taken page tables marked as kernel page tables, which now includes split page tables, take the correct route through pagetable_free_kernel(). There is a user-visible side effect in that split page tables will appear in nr_page_table_pages in /proc/vmstat (as do other kernel page tables allocated after early boot), however this is a positive change. This issue started being markedly problematic after commit: 5ba2f0a15564 ("mm: introduce deferred freeing for kernel page tables") so choose this as the Fixes target. [ dhansen: rephrase in imperative mood ]

Timeline

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

0.17% · top 94% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.2.

Affected products

• Linux · Linux

  • affected b3039c526f3e1744db0cbb7ae1f0213f5e27d3f4 – < 84e0cd79d57f06b872154eb5d8f610584133f260
  • affected 5ba2f0a1556479638ac11a3c201421f5515e89f5 – < 922873cf4fc34124215070a8ad391bf831538bb9
  • affected 5ba2f0a1556479638ac11a3c201421f5515e89f5 – < 9e4a3ec3411bb6bb59e3c1f29b75609f1e87aac4
  • affected 6.18.7 – < 6.18.53

• Linux · Linux

  • affected 6.19
  • unaffected < 6.19
  • unaffected 6.18.53 – ≤ 6.18.*
  • unaffected 7.2.7 – ≤ 7.2.*
  • unaffected 7.3 – ≤ *

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• EUVD EUVD-2026-86833 (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

[![CVE-2026-97525](https://cveledger.app/badge/CVE-2026-97525.svg)](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-97525)

Record last updated 19 Oct 2026, 09:08 UTC.