CVE-2025-40037 fbdev: simplefb: Fix use after free in simplefb_detach_genpds()
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's simplefb driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute arbitrary code.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-40037?
CVE-2025-40037 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 28 Oct 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
fbdev: simplefb: Fix use after free in simplefb_detach_genpds()
The pm_domain cleanup can not be devres managed as it uses struct simplefb_par which is allocated within struct fb_info by framebuffer_alloc(). This allocation is explicitly freed by unregister_framebuffer() in simplefb_remove(). Devres managed cleanup runs after the device remove call and thus can no longer access struct simplefb_par. Call simplefb_detach_genpds() explicitly from simplefb_destroy() like the cleanup functions for clocks and regulators.
Fixes an use after free on M2 Mac mini during aperture_remove_conflicting_devices() using the downstream asahi kernel with Debian's kernel config. For unknown reasons this started to consistently dereference an invalid pointer in v6.16.3 based kernels.
[ 6.736134] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in simplefb_detach_genpds+0x58/0x220 [ 6.743545] Read of size 4 at addr ffff8000304743f0 by task (udev-worker)/227 [ 6.750697] [ 6.752182] CPU: 6 UID: 0 PID: 227 Comm: (udev-worker) Tainted: G S 6.16.3-asahi+ #16 PREEMPTLAZY [ 6.752186] Tainted: [S]=CPU_OUT_OF_SPEC [ 6.752187] Hardware name: Apple Mac mini (M2, 2023) (DT) [ 6.752189] Call trace: [ 6.752190] show_stack+0x34/0x98 (C) [ 6.752194] dump_stack_lvl+0x60/0x80 [ 6.752197] print_report+0x17c/0x4d8 [ 6.752201] kasan_report+0xb4/0x100 [ 6.752206] __asan_report_load4_noabort+0x20/0x30 [ 6.752209] simplefb_detach_genpds+0x58/0x220 [ 6.752213] devm_action_release+0x50/0x98 [ 6.752216] release_nodes+0xd0/0x2c8 [ 6.752219] devres_release_all+0xfc/0x178 [ 6.752221] device_unbind_cleanup+0x28/0x168 [ 6.752224] device_release_driver_internal+0x34c/0x470 [ 6.752228] device_release_driver+0x20/0x38 [ 6.752231] bus_remove_device+0x1b0/0x380 [ 6.752234] device_del+0x314/0x820 [ 6.752238] platform_device_del+0x3c/0x1e8 [ 6.752242] platform_device_unregister+0x20/0x50 [ 6.752246] aperture_detach_platform_device+0x1c/0x30 [ 6.752250] aperture_detach_devices+0x16c/0x290 [ 6.752253] aperture_remove_conflicting_devices+0x34/0x50 ... [ 6.752343] [ 6.967409] Allocated by task 62: [ 6.970724] kasan_save_stack+0x3c/0x70 [ 6.974560] kasan_save_track+0x20/0x40 [ 6.978397] kasan_save_alloc_info+0x40/0x58 [ 6.982670] __kasan_kmalloc+0xd4/0xd8 [ 6.986420] __kmalloc_noprof+0x194/0x540 [ 6.990432] framebuffer_alloc+0xc8/0x130 [ 6.994444] simplefb_probe+0x258/0x2378 ... [ 7.054356] [ 7.055838] Freed by task 227: [ 7.058891] kasan_save_stack+0x3c/0x70 [ 7.062727] kasan_save_track+0x20/0x40 [ 7.066565] kasan_save_free_info+0x4c/0x80 [ 7.070751] __kasan_slab_free+0x6c/0xa0 [ 7.074675] kfree+0x10c/0x380 [ 7.077727] framebuffer_release+0x5c/0x90 [ 7.081826] simplefb_destroy+0x1b4/0x2c0 [ 7.085837] put_fb_info+0x98/0x100 [ 7.089326] unregister_framebuffer+0x178/0x320 [ 7.093861] simplefb_remove+0x3c/0x60 [ 7.097611] platform_remove+0x60/0x98 [ 7.101361] device_remove+0xb8/0x160 [ 7.105024] device_release_driver_internal+0x2fc/0x470 [ 7.110256] device_release_driver+0x20/0x38 [ 7.114529] bus_remove_device+0x1b0/0x380 [ 7.118628] device_del+0x314/0x820 [ 7.122116] platform_device_del+0x3c/0x1e8 [ 7.126302] platform_device_unregister+0x20/0x50 [ 7.131012] aperture_detach_platform_device+0x1c/0x30 [ 7.136157] aperture_detach_devices+0x16c/0x290 [ 7.140779] aperture_remove_conflicting_devices+0x34/0x50 ...
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-40037?
How do I fix CVE-2025-40037?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2025-40037 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40037 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-40037, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40037, GHSA-5hpm-4x7m-g857, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-40037, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-40037, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40037.