# CVE-2025-71181: rust_binder: remove spin_lock() in rust_shrink_free_page()

> A recursive locking bug in the Rust Binder driver causes a deadlock and system crash during memory reclamation, requiring a kernel patch.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 31 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-71181, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-71181, GHSA-3qhg-rc86-rh99, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-71181

## What is CVE-2025-71181?

CVE-2025-71181 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 31 Jan 2026. 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:

rust_binder: remove spin_lock() in rust_shrink_free_page()

When forward-porting Rust Binder to 6.18, I neglected to take commit
fb56fdf8b9a2 ("mm/list_lru: split the lock to per-cgroup scope") into
account, and apparently I did not end up running the shrinker callback
when I sanity tested the driver before submission. This leads to crashes
like the following:

	============================================
	WARNING: possible recursive locking detected
	6.18.0-mainline-maybe-dirty #1 Tainted: G          IO
	--------------------------------------------
	kswapd0/68 is trying to acquire lock:
	ffff956000fa18b0 (&l->lock){+.+.}-{2:2}, at: lock_list_lru_of_memcg+0x128/0x230

	but task is already holding lock:
	ffff956000fa18b0 (&l->lock){+.+.}-{2:2}, at: rust_helper_spin_lock+0xd/0x20

	other info that might help us debug this:
	 Possible unsafe locking scenario:

	       CPU0
	       ----
	  lock(&l->lock);
	  lock(&l->lock);

	 *** DEADLOCK ***

	 May be due to missing lock nesting notation

	3 locks held by kswapd0/68:
	 #0: ffffffff90d2e260 (fs_reclaim){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: kswapd+0x597/0x1160
	 #1: ffff956000fa18b0 (&l->lock){+.+.}-{2:2}, at: rust_helper_spin_lock+0xd/0x20
	 #2: ffffffff90cf3680 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:2}, at: lock_list_lru_of_memcg+0x2d/0x230

To fix this, remove the spin_lock() call from rust_shrink_free_page().

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71181?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-71181?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-71181 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71181 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-71181 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-71181 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 31 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71181 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71181/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71181/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71181
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71181
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-71181

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71181/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.