CVE-2025-39813

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

ftrace: Fix potential warning in trace_printk_seq during ftrace_dump

When calling ftrace_dump_one() concurrently with reading trace_pipe, a WARN_ON_ONCE() in trace_printk_seq() can be triggered due to a race condition.

The issue occurs because:

CPU0 (ftrace_dump) CPU1 (reader) echo z > /proc/sysrq-trigger

!trace_empty(&iter) trace_iterator_reset(&iter) <- len = size = 0 cat /sys/kernel/tracing/trace_pipe trace_find_next_entry_inc(&iter) __find_next_entry ring_buffer_empty_cpu <- all empty return NULL

trace_printk_seq(&iter.seq) WARN_ON_ONCE(s->seq.len >= s->seq.size)

In the context between trace_empty() and trace_find_next_entry_inc() during ftrace_dump, the ring buffer data was consumed by other readers. This caused trace_find_next_entry_inc to return NULL, failing to populate iter.seq. At this point, due to the prior trace_iterator_reset, both iter.seq.len and iter.seq.size were set to 0. Since they are equal, the WARN_ON_ONCE condition is triggered.

Move the trace_printk_seq() into the if block that checks to make sure the return value of trace_find_next_entry_inc() is non-NULL in ftrace_dump_one(), ensuring the iter.seq is properly populated before subsequent operations.

Weakness

The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.

Affected Software

Extended Description

A race condition occurs within concurrent environments, and it is effectively a property of a code sequence. Depending on the context, a code sequence may be in the form of a function call, a small number of instructions, a series of program invocations, etc. A race condition violates these properties, which are closely related:

A race condition exists when an “interfering code sequence” can still access the shared resource, violating exclusivity. The interfering code sequence could be “trusted” or “untrusted.” A trusted interfering code sequence occurs within the product; it cannot be modified by the attacker, and it can only be invoked indirectly. An untrusted interfering code sequence can be authored directly by the attacker, and typically it is external to the vulnerable product.

Potential Mitigations

• Minimize the usage of shared resources in order to remove as much complexity as possible from the control flow and to reduce the likelihood of unexpected conditions occurring.
• Additionally, this will minimize the amount of synchronization necessary and may even help to reduce the likelihood of a denial of service where an attacker may be able to repeatedly trigger a critical section (CWE-400).

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/26.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/29.html

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/28c8fb7ae2ad27d81c8de3c4fe608c509f6a18aa
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4013aef2ced9b756a410f50d12df9ebe6a883e4a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ab0ec206deb99eb3baf8f1d7602aeaa91dbcc85
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a6f0f8873cc30fd4543b09adf03f7f51d293f0e6
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ced94e137e6cd5e79c65564841d3b7695d0f5fa3
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e80ff23ba8bdb0f41a1afe2657078e4097d13a9a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f299353e7ccbcc5c2ed8993c48fbe7609cbe729a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fbd4cf7ee4db65ef36796769fe978e9eba6f0de4
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00007.html
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00008.html