Linux Kernel Vulnerability in Page Pool for Atomic Allocations

CVE-2025-68321

What is CVE-2025-68321?

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's page allocation mechanism has been identified, specifically affecting the page pool functionality. The issue arises when driver authors neglect to utilize the GFP_NOWARN flag for atomic allocations, leading to unnecessary On Out of Memory (OOM) errors during network operations. This could degrade user experience and system reliability, as network Receive (Rx) actions are likely to encounter page allocation failures under memory constraint scenarios. To mitigate this issue, it is now mandated that the page pool framework apply GFP_NOWARN by default for atomic allocations, helping to reduce the frequency of OOM failures and enhancing overall system stability.

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