Re: FreeBSD Errata Notice FreeBSD-EN-26:03.vm [and other notices/advisories from today: pkgbase instructions?]

From: Rich Reynolds <rich_at_redstar-assoc.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2026 20:26:24 UTC
On 1/27/26 16:56, Mark Millard wrote:
> On 1/27/26 14:28, FreeBSD Errata Notices wrote:
>> =============================================================================
>> FreeBSD-EN-26:03.vm                                             Errata Notice
>>                                                            The FreeBSD Project
>>
>> Topic:          The page fault handler fails to zero memory
>>
>> Category:       core
>> Module:         vm
>> Announced:      2026-01-27
>> Affects:        All supported versions of FreeBSD.
>> Corrected:      2025-12-15 10:37:54 UTC (stable/15, 15.0-STABLE)
>>                  2026-01-27 19:15:47 UTC (releng/15.0, 15.0-RELEASE-p2)
>>                  2025-12-15 10:42:28 UTC (stable/14, 14.3-STABLE)
>>                  2026-01-27 19:16:12 UTC (releng/14.3, 14.3-RELEASE-p8)
>>                  2026-01-26 15:18:32 UTC (stable/13, 13.4-STABLE)
>>                  2026-01-27 19:16:34 UTC (releng/13.5, 13.5-RELEASE-p9)
> My notes use this Errata Notice as an example. But all 3 of the Errata
> Notices and the 2 Security Advisories released today look to have
> similar points relative to pkgbase-based FreeBSD OS installations.
>
>> For general information regarding FreeBSD Errata Notices and Security
>> Advisories, including descriptions of the fields above, security
>> branches, and the following sections, please visit
>> <URL:https://security.FreeBSD.org/>.
>>
>> I.   Background
>>
>> The mmap(2) system call allows applications and system libraries to allocate
>> heap memory using the MAP_ANON flag.  The system call allocates virtual memory
>> in the calling thread's address space and physical memory is allocated on
>> demand as page faults occur.  Memory allocated this way is guaranteed to be
>> zero-filled.
>>
>> II.  Problem Description
>>
>> Under some conditions, the physical pages allocated and mapped by the kernel
>> may not be zero-filled.
>>
>> III. Impact
>>
>> This bug has been observed to cause process crashes.
>>
>> IV.  Workaround
>>
>> No workaround is available.
>>
>> V.   Solution
>>
>> Upgrade your system to a supported FreeBSD stable or release / security
>> branch (releng) dated after the correction date.
>>
>> Perform one of the following:
>>
>> 1) To update your system via a binary patch:
> The below freebsd-update use is inappropriate for pkgbase based
> installations of the 15.0 variants.
>
> [I'm unsure of intended coverage of 14.3's non-re@-pkgbase-use based
> systems but (1) does not apply there either.]
>
>> Systems running a RELEASE version of FreeBSD on the amd64 or arm64 platforms,
>> or the i386 platform on FreeBSD 13, can be updated via the freebsd-update(8)
>> utility:
>>
>> # freebsd-update fetch
>> # freebsd-update install
>> # shutdown -r now
>>
>> 2) To update your system via a source code patch:
> The below source-based steps are inappropriate for pkgbase based
> installations of the 15.0 variants.
>
> [I'm unsure of intended coverage of 14.3's non-re@-pkgbase-use based
> systems but (2) does not correctly apply there either.]
>
>> The following patches have been verified to apply to the applicable
>> FreeBSD release branches.
>>
>> a) Download the relevant patch from the location below, and verify the
>> detached PGP signature using your PGP utility.
>>
>> [FreeBSD 15.0]
>> # fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-26:03/vm-15.patch
>> # fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-26:03/vm-15.patch.asc
>> # gpg --verify vm-15.patch.asc
>>
>> [FreeBSD 14.3]
>> # fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-26:03/vm-14.patch
>> # fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-26:03/vm-14.patch.asc
>> # gpg --verify vm-14.patch.asc
>>
>> [FreeBSD 13.5]
>> # fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-26:03/vm-13.patch
>> # fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-26:03/vm-13.patch.asc
>> # gpg --verify vm-13.patch.asc
>>
>> b) Apply the patch.  Execute the following commands as root:
>>
>> # cd /usr/src
>> # patch < /path/to/patch
>>
>> c) Recompile your kernel as described in
>> <URL:https://www.FreeBSD.org/handbook/kernelconfig.html> and reboot the
>> system.
> There is no section for --or mention of-- pkgbase or of use of
> pkg/pkg-static commands for updating at all.
>
> (Such would not apply to any 13.5 variant.)
>
>> VI.  Correction details
>>
>> This issue is corrected as of the corresponding Git commit hash in the
>> following stable and release branches:
>>
>> Branch/path                             Hash                     Revision
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> stable/15/                              3c0942f99209    stable/15-n281508
>> releng/15.0/                            6e279feb40be  releng/15.0-n281002
>> stable/14/                              99f641267d44    stable/14-n272998
>> releng/14.3/                            de311ee39b3f  releng/14.3-n271457
>> stable/13/                              babac9d7bc05    stable/13-n259725
>> releng/13.5/                            4967e14ba25b  releng/13.5-n259188
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Run the following command to see which files were modified by a
>> particular commit:
>>
>> # git show --stat <commit hash>
>>
>> Or visit the following URL, replacing NNNNNN with the hash:
>>
>> <URL:https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/commit/?id=NNNNNN>
>>
>> To determine the commit count in a working tree (for comparison against
>> nNNNNNN in the table above), run:
>>
>> # git rev-list --count --first-parent HEAD
>>
>> VII. References
>>
>> The latest revision of this advisory is available at
>> <URL:https://security.FreeBSD.org/advisories/FreeBSD-EN-26:03.vm.asc>
>>
>>
other than overwriting my cloned git /usr/src directory, 'pkg upgrade' 
acted as expected.

now if i could just get my build from source repository to be as easy.

thanx gang.

odd1

-- 
When you believe in things,
that you don't understand,
then you suffer,
superstition ain't the way.

Stevie Wonder - 1972