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CVE-2026-63825

gcov: use atomic counter updates to fix concurrent access crashes

Affects Linux kernel builds with GCC GCOV instrumentation that process IPComp traffic, across several version branches. Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.38, and 7.1.3 and later.

Published
Last modified
published
Not listed in CISA KEV
Unclear
Fix
Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.38, 7.1.3
None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub

Summary

The vulnerability affects the Linux kernel's GCOV code-coverage instrumentation, specifically its inflate_fast() decompression routine used during IPComp (IP payload compression) processing. When this code runs concurrently on multiple CPUs, non-atomic shared counter updates can cause inconsistent memory accesses, leading to kernel crashes from page faults and out-of-bounds writes.

Summarized by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5. Verify details against the original sources.

Read the original description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gcov: use atomic counter updates to fix concurrent access crashes GCC's GCOV instrumentation can merge global branch counters with loop induction variables as an optimization. In inflate_fast(), the inner copy loops get transformed so that the GCOV counter value is loaded multiple times to compute the loop base address, start index, and end bound. Since GCOV counters are global (not per-CPU), concurrent execution on different CPUs causes the counter to change between loads, producing inconsistent values and out-of-bounds memory writes. The crash manifests during IPComp (IP Payload Compression) processing when inflate_fast() runs concurrently on multiple CPUs: BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffd0a3c0902ffa RIP: inflate_fast+1431 Call Trace: zlib_inflate __deflate_decompress crypto_comp_decompress ipcomp_decompress [xfrm_ipcomp] ipcomp_input [xfrm_ipcomp] xfrm_input At the crash point, the compiler generated three loads from the same global GCOV counter (__gcov0.inflate_fast+216) to compute base, start, and end for an indexed loop. Another CPU modified the counter between loads, making the values inconsistent - the write went 3.4 MB past a 65 KB buffer. Add -fprofile-update=prefer-atomic to CFLAGS_GCOV at the global level in the top-level Makefile, guarded by a try-run compile test. The test compiles a minimal program with and without -fprofile-update=prefer-atomic using the full KBUILD_CFLAGS, then compares undefined symbols in the resulting object files. If prefer-atomic introduces new undefined references (such as __atomic_fetch_add_8 on i386 or __aarch64_ldadd8_relax on arm64 with outline-atomics), the flag is not added -- the kernel does not link against libatomic. On architectures where GCC inlines 64-bit atomic counter updates (x86_64, s390, ...) the test passes and the flag is enabled, preventing the compiler from merging counters with loop induction variables and fixing the observed concurrent-access crash. On architectures where the flag would introduce libatomic dependencies, it is silently omitted and behaviour is no worse than before this patch. Move the CFLAGS_GCOV block from its original position (before the arch Makefile include) to after the core KBUILD_CFLAGS assignments but before the scripts/Makefile.gcc-plugins include. This placement ensures the try-run test sees arch-specific flags (-m32, -march=, -mno-outline-atomics) while avoiding GCC plugin flags (-fplugin=) that would break the test on clean builds when plugin shared objects do not yet exist.

Timeline

  1. CVE published
  2. Record last updated

Affected versions

  • Linux Linux

    Version range not reported

  • Linux Linux

    2.6.31

  • KernelLinux

    From 2.6.31 · fixed in 6.6.160; From 6.7.0 · fixed in 6.12.114; From 6.13.0 · fixed in 6.18.38; From 6.19.0 · fixed in 7.1.3

References 6

git.kernel.org

FAQ

Questions about CVE-2026-63825

What does this mean?

GCC's GCOV coverage instrumentation can merge global branch counters with loop values. When inflate_fast() runs concurrently on multiple CPUs during IPComp processing, this causes out-of-bounds memory writes that can crash the kernel with page faults.Source: git.kernel.org

Am I affected, and how do I check?

Kernels from 2.6.31 up to the fixed releases in each branch are affected: before 6.6.160, from 6.7.0 before 6.12.114, from 6.13.0 before 6.18.38, and from 6.19.0 before 7.1.3. Check your version with uname -r, and check whether the kernel was built with GCC GCOV instrumentation and uses IPComp.Source: git.kernel.org

What should I do about it?

Upgrade to the fixed release for your branch: 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.38, or 7.1.3, or a later version.Source: git.kernel.org

Is it being exploited?

It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data