In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Prevent VMA split of buffer mappings The perf mmap code is careful about mmap()'ing the user page with the ringbuffer and additionally the auxiliary buffer, when the event supports it. Once the first mapping is established, subsequent mapping have to use the same offset and the same size in both cases. The reference counting for the ringbuffer and the auxiliary buffer depends on this being correct. Though perf does not prevent that a related mapping is split via mmap(2), munmap(2) or mremap(2). A split of a VMA results in perf_mmap_open() calls, which take reference counts, but then the subsequent perf_mmap_close() calls are not longer fulfilling the offset and size checks. This leads to reference count leaks. As perf already has the requirement for subsequent mappings to match the initial mapping, the obvious consequence is that VMA splits, caused by resizing of a mapping or partial unmapping, have to be prevented. Implement the vm_operations_struct::may_split() callback and return unconditionally -EINVAL. That ensures that the mapping offsets and sizes cannot be changed after the fact. Remapping to a different fixed address with the same size is still possible as it takes the references for the new mapping and drops those of the old mapping.

The remote SUSE Linux SLES12 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the SUSE-SU-2025:03204-1 advisory.

    The SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 SP5 kernel was updated to receive various security bugfixes.


    The following security bugs were fixed:

    - CVE-2022-49967: bpf: Fix a data-race around bpf_jit_limit (bsc#1244964).
    - CVE-2022-49975: bpf: Don't redirect packets with invalid pkt_len (bsc#1245196).
    - CVE-2022-49980: usb: gadget: Fix use-after-free bug by not setting udc->dev.driver (bsc#1245110).
    - CVE-2022-49981: HID: hidraw: fix memory leak in hidraw_release() (bsc#1245072).
    - CVE-2022-50007: xfrm: fix refcount leak in __xfrm_policy_check() (bsc#1245016).
    - CVE-2022-50066: net: atlantic: fix aq_vec index out of range error (bsc#1244985).
    - CVE-2022-50080: tee: add overflow check in register_shm_helper() (bsc#1244972).
    - CVE-2022-50116: kernel: tty: n_gsm: fix deadlock and link starvation in outgoing data path     (bsc#1244824).
    - CVE-2022-50127: RDMA/rxe: Fix error unwind in rxe_create_qp() (bsc#1244815).
    - CVE-2022-50138: RDMA/qedr: Fix potential memory leak in __qedr_alloc_mr() (bsc#1244797).
    - CVE-2022-50141: mmc: sdhci-of-esdhc: Fix refcount leak in esdhc_signal_voltage_switch (bsc#1244794).
    - CVE-2022-50162: wifi: libertas: Fix possible refcount leak in if_usb_probe() (bsc#1244773).
    - CVE-2022-50185: drm/radeon: fix potential buffer overflow in ni_set_mc_special_registers()     (bsc#1244887).
    - CVE-2022-50191: regulator: of: Fix refcount leak bug in of_get_regulation_constraints() (bsc#1244899).
    - CVE-2022-50228: KVM: SVM: Do not BUG if userspace injects an interrupt with GIF=0 (bsc#1244854).
    - CVE-2022-50229: ALSA: bcd2000: Fix a UAF bug on the error path of probing (bsc#1244856).
    - CVE-2023-52813: crypto: pcrypt - Fix hungtask for PADATA_RESET (bsc#1225527).
    - CVE-2023-53020: l2tp: close all race conditions in l2tp_tunnel_register() (bsc#1240224).
    - CVE-2024-28956: x86/its: Enable Indirect Target Selection mitigation (bsc#1242006).
    - CVE-2025-22022: usb: xhci: Apply the link chain quirk on NEC isoc endpoints (bsc#1241292).
    - CVE-2025-23141: KVM: x86: Acquire SRCU in KVM_GET_MP_STATE to protect guest memory accesses     (bsc#1242782).
    - CVE-2025-38075: scsi: target: iscsi: Fix timeout on deleted connection (bsc#1244734).
    - CVE-2025-38102: VMCI: fix race between vmci_host_setup_notify and vmci_ctx_unset_notify (bsc#1245669).
    - CVE-2025-38103: HID: usbhid: Eliminate recurrent out-of-bounds bug in usbhid_parse() (bsc#1245663).
    - CVE-2025-38117: Bluetooth: MGMT: protect mgmt_pending list with its own lock (bsc#1245695).
    - CVE-2025-38122: gve: add missing NULL check for gve_alloc_pending_packet() in TX DQO (bsc#1245746).
    - CVE-2025-38153: net: usb: aqc111: fix error handling of usbnet read calls (bsc#1245744).
    - CVE-2025-38173: crypto: marvell/cesa - Handle zero-length skcipher requests (bsc#1245769).
    - CVE-2025-38174: thunderbolt: Do not double dequeue a configuration request (bsc#1245781).
    - CVE-2025-38184: tipc: fix null-ptr-deref when acquiring remote ip of ethernet bearer (bsc#1245956).
    - CVE-2025-38185: atm: atmtcp: Free invalid length skb in atmtcp_c_send() (bsc#1246012).
    - CVE-2025-38190: atm: Revert atm_account_tx() if copy_from_iter_full() fails (bsc#1245973).
    - CVE-2025-38214: fbdev: Fix fb_set_var to prevent null-ptr-deref in fb_videomode_to_var (bsc#1246042).
    - CVE-2025-38245: atm: Release atm_dev_mutex after removing procfs in atm_dev_deregister() (bsc#1246193).
    - CVE-2025-38263: bcache: fix NULL pointer in cache_set_flush() (bsc#1246248).
    - CVE-2025-38313: bus: fsl-mc: fix double-free on mc_dev (bsc#1246342).
    - CVE-2025-38352: posix-cpu-timers: fix race between handle_posix_cpu_timers() and posix_cpu_timer_del()     (bsc#1246911).
    - CVE-2025-38386: ACPICA: Refuse to evaluate a method if arguments are missing (bsc#1247138).
    - CVE-2025-38424: perf: Fix sample vs do_exit() (bsc#1246547 bsc#1247293).
    - CVE-2025-38430: nfsd: nfsd4_spo_must_allow() must check this is a v4 compound request (bsc#1247160).
    - CVE-2025-38449: drm/gem: Acquire references on GEM handles for framebuffers (bsc#1247255).
    - CVE-2025-38457: net/sched: Abort __tc_modify_qdisc if parent class does not exist (bsc#1247098).
    - CVE-2025-38460: atm: clip: Fix potential null-ptr-deref in to_atmarpd() (bsc#1247143).
    - CVE-2025-38464: tipc: Fix use-after-free in tipc_conn_close() (bsc#1247112).
    - CVE-2025-38465: netlink: Fix wraparounds of sk->sk_rmem_alloc (bsc#1247118).
    - CVE-2025-38470: net: vlan: fix VLAN 0 refcount imbalance of toggling filtering during runtime     (bsc#1247288).
    - CVE-2025-38473: Bluetooth: Fix null-ptr-deref in l2cap_sock_resume_cb() (bsc#1247289).
    - CVE-2025-38474: usb: net: sierra: check for no status endpoint (bsc#1247311).
    - CVE-2025-38498: do_change_type(): refuse to operate on unmounted/not ours mounts (bsc#1247374).
    - CVE-2025-38499: clone_private_mnt(): make sure that caller has CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the right userns     (bsc#1247976).
    - CVE-2025-38512: wifi: prevent A-MSDU attacks in mesh networks (bsc#1248178).
    - CVE-2025-38513: wifi: zd1211rw: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference in zd_mac_tx_to_dev()     (bsc#1248179).
    - CVE-2025-38515: drm/sched: Increment job count before swapping tail spsc queue (bsc#1248212).
    - CVE-2025-38546: atm: clip: Fix memory leak of struct clip_vcc (bsc#1248223).
    - CVE-2025-38556: HID: core: Harden s32ton() against conversion to 0 bits (bsc#1248296).
    - CVE-2025-38563: perf/core: Prevent VMA split of buffer mappings (bsc#1248306).
    - CVE-2025-38617: net/packet: fix a race in packet_set_ring() and packet_notifier() (bsc#1248621).
    - CVE-2025-38618: vsock: Do not allow binding to VMADDR_PORT_ANY (bsc#1248511).
    - CVE-2025-38644: wifi: mac80211: reject TDLS operations when station is not associated (bsc#1248748).


Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the SUSE security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

An update of the linux package has been released.

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - perf/core: Prevent VMA split of buffer mappings The perf mmap code is careful about mmap()'ing the user     page with the ringbuffer and additionally the auxiliary buffer, when the event supports it. Once the first     mapping is established, subsequent mapping have to use the same offset and the same size in both cases.
    The reference counting for the ringbuffer and the auxiliary buffer depends on this being correct. Though     perf does not prevent that a related mapping is split via mmap(2), munmap(2) or mremap(2). A split of a     VMA results in perf_mmap_open() calls, which take reference counts, but then the subsequent     perf_mmap_close() calls are not longer fulfilling the offset and size checks. This leads to reference     count leaks. As perf already has the requirement for subsequent mappings to match the initial mapping, the     obvious consequence is that VMA splits, caused by resizing of a mapping or partial unmapping, have to be     prevented. Implement the vm_operations_struct::may_split() callback and return unconditionally -EINVAL.
    That ensures that the mapping offsets and sizes cannot be changed after the fact. Remapping to a different     fixed address with the same size is still possible as it takes the references for the new mapping and     drops those of the old mapping. (CVE-2025-38563)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
264665	SUSE SLES12 Security Update : kernel (SUSE-SU-2025:03204-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	medium
261144	Photon OS 5.0: Linux PHSA-2025-5.0-0610	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	high
260131	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-38563	Nessus	Misc.	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2025-38563

high

Tenable Plugins

medium

high

high