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CVE-2026-72176

Status: ReceivedUnscored—

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/damon/sysfs-schemes: put stats for scheme_add_dirs() internal error

damon_sysfs_scheme_add_dirs() setup the tried_regions directory after the stats directory setup is completed. When the tried_regions directory setup is failed, the setup function ensures the reference for the tried regions directory is released. Hence the error path should put references on setup succeeded directory objects, starting from the stats directory. However, the error path is putting the tried_regions directory instead of the stats directory.

As a direct result, the stats directory object is leaked. Worse yet, if the tried_regions directory setup failed from the initial allocation, the scheme->tried_regions field remains uninitialized.

Read full descriptionShow less

The following kobject_put(&scheme->tried_regions->kobj) call in the error path will dereference the uninitialized memory. The setup failures should not be common. But once it happens, the consequence is quite bad.

Fix this issue by correctly putting the stats directory instead of the tried_regions directory.

The issue was discovered [1] by Sashiko.

CVSS

NVD hasn't assigned a CVSS score to this CVE (common since the April 2026 policy change).

Exploitation probability (EPSS)

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).

Affected technologies (1)

⚠ AI-inferred from the description — NVD hasn't analyzed this CVE yet, these aren't verified CPEs.

Linux — Linux KernelAI

References

Raw JSON (NVD)

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{
  "id": "CVE-2026-72176",
  "cveTags": [],
  "metrics": {},
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5181b75f438d2e5b7f27bf48c6ea88a87c2882b7",
              "lessThan": "50a753171d255895e5dd41566986b48dcec06f31",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5181b75f438d2e5b7f27bf48c6ea88a87c2882b7",
              "lessThan": "f63d6e5ba72aeacdee4fddc902bd7616cd62b919",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5181b75f438d2e5b7f27bf48c6ea88a87c2882b7",
              "lessThan": "40a04601a3f66cabd6629c258a07af645a658865",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5181b75f438d2e5b7f27bf48c6ea88a87c2882b7",
              "lessThan": "6b6b5d7c2c957136b92c00b77b7175259f13082b",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5181b75f438d2e5b7f27bf48c6ea88a87c2882b7",
              "lessThan": "05ea83ee88ca70f8932906d9f2617ff996f45b50",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "mm/damon/sysfs-schemes.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
        },
        {
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "product": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6.2"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "lessThan": "6.2",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.6.145",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.12.97",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.40",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.1.5",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*"
            },
            {
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*"
            }
          ],
          "programFiles": [
            "mm/damon/sysfs-schemes.c"
          ],
          "defaultStatus": "affected"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "published": "2026-08-15T06:21:35.810",
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/05ea83ee88ca70f8932906d9f2617ff996f45b50",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/40a04601a3f66cabd6629c258a07af645a658865",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50a753171d255895e5dd41566986b48dcec06f31",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b6b5d7c2c957136b92c00b77b7175259f13082b",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f63d6e5ba72aeacdee4fddc902bd7616cd62b919",
      "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
    }
  ],
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmm/damon/sysfs-schemes: put stats for scheme_add_dirs() internal error\n\ndamon_sysfs_scheme_add_dirs() setup the tried_regions directory after the\nstats directory setup is completed.  When the tried_regions directory\nsetup is failed, the setup function ensures the reference for the tried\nregions directory is released.  Hence the error path should put references\non setup succeeded directory objects, starting from the stats directory. \nHowever, the error path is putting the tried_regions directory instead of\nthe stats directory.\n\nAs a direct result, the stats directory object is leaked.  Worse yet, if\nthe tried_regions directory setup failed from the initial allocation, the\nscheme->tried_regions field remains uninitialized.  The following\nkobject_put(&scheme->tried_regions->kobj) call in the error path will\ndereference the uninitialized memory.  The setup failures should not be\ncommon.  But once it happens, the consequence is quite bad.\n\nFix this issue by correctly putting the stats directory instead of the\ntried_regions directory.\n\nThe issue was discovered [1] by Sashiko."
    }
  ],
  "lastModified": "2026-08-17T06:18:18.120",
  "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
}