tracepoints

About this tag
Tracepoints are hooks in the Linux kernel that allow tracing subsystems to collect performance and debugging data without modifying kernel code. Recent security patches for CVE-2025-37938 and CVE-2025-40324 highlight real-world risks: the first fixed a use-after-free vulnerability where tracepoints could reference freed memory due to skipped pointer format checks, potentially causing kernel crashes. The second addressed a crash in the NFS server's trace_nfsd_read_done tracepoint triggered during specific unit tests, affecting availability. These examples show that while tracepoints are powerful for diagnostics, they require careful validation to prevent stability issues in production environments.

  1. Linux Kernel Trace Verifier Patch Prevents Use-After-Free (CVE-2025-37938)

    The Linux kernel’s tracing subsystem received a targeted security fix for a subtle but real use‑after‑free risk: the trace event verifier previously skipped certain complex pointer formats such as "%*p..", allowing tracepoints to reference memory that might be freed before a trace reader...
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    • cve 2025 37938 linux kernel security advisory tracepoints
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  2. CVE-2025-40324: NFSd Tracepoint Crash and Patch Guide

    A harmless-looking tracehook in the NFS server (nfsd) could crash a system: CVE-2025-40324 patches a fault in nfsd4_read_release that causes the trace_nfsd_read_done tracepoint to crash during a specific pynfs read.testNoFh unit test when kernel tracing is enabled, turning a test scenario into...