FreeBSD Errata Notice FreeBSD-EN-25:12.efi
8 August, 2025 by errata-notices@freebsd.org | freebsd
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FreeBSD-EN-25:12.efi Errata Notice
The FreeBSD Project
Topic: bsdinstall(8) not copying the correct loader on systems with
IA32 UEFI firmware.
Category: core
Module: efi
Announced: 2025-08-08
Affects: FreeBSD 14.3
Corrected: 2025-06-16 23:07:25 UTC (stable/14, 14.3-STABLE)
2025-08-08 00:39:02 UTC (releng/14.3, 14.3-RELEASE-p2)
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
bsdinstall(8) checks the machdep.efi_arch sysctl and depending on its value,
it either copies loader.efi or loader_ia32.efi.
II. Problem Description
The commit that added the machdep.efi_arch sysctl was not MFCed in time for
releng/14.3, however, the commit that added support for loader_ia32.efi in
bsdinstall(8) was. The result is that bsdinstall(8) always copies loader.efi.
III. Impact
bsdinstall(8) copying loader.efi regardless of the firmware's architecture
results in an unbootable system after install for systems which expect a
32-bit UEFI loader.
IV. Workaround
loader_ia32.efi can be manually copied to /boot/efi/efi/boot/bootia32.efi
where the EFI boot partition is mounted at /boot/efi.
Systems which have 64-bit UEFI firmware are unaffected. Non x86 systems are
likewise unaffected.
V. Solution
Upgrade your system to a supported FreeBSD stable or release / security
branch (releng) dated after the correction date and reboot the system.
Perform one of the following:
1) To update your system via a binary patch:
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
# reboot
2) To update your system via a source code patch:
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.
# fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-25:12/efi.patch
# fetch https://security.FreeBSD.org/patches/EN-25:12/efi.patch.asc
# gpg --verify efi.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.
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/14/ 0e8890a425bc stable/14-n271710
releng/14.3/ ce4fe4c4bfcd releng/14.3-n271435
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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-25:12.efi.asc>
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