CVE-2026-72138 json
xen/gntdev: fix error handling in ioctl
published 2026-08-15 2 mo ago modified 2026-11-06 2 d ago also EUVD-2026-58896
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 12%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
xen/gntdev: fix error handling in ioctl
When gntdev_ioctl_map_grant_ref() fails to copy the operation result back to userspace after successfully adding the mapping to the list, the error path returns -EFAULT without releasing the reference acquired by gntdev_alloc_map(). The mapping remains in priv->maps with a refcount of 1, causing a memory leak and a dangling list entry.
Additionally, gntdev_add_map() may modify map->index to avoid overlap with existing mappings. Therefore, the index returned to userspace must be obtained after gntdev_add_map() completes.
Fix this by holding the mutex across gntdev_add_map(), retrieving the correct index, and copy_to_user(). If copy_to_user() fails, remove the mapping from the list and release the reference while still holding the lock.
Fix these issues by properly handling all error cases.
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2
- linux Debian 12 6.1.180-1
- linux Debian 13 6.12.100-1
- linux Debian 14 7.1.5-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72138
- linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-198.208
- linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-147.147
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-38.38
- linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1117.124
- linux-aws Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1067.70
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1014.14
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1118.128
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1071.79
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72138
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-azure SLE Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-source SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-default SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP7, SLE Module for Legacy 15 SP7, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 +2 more 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-zfcpdump SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-obs-build SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1
- kernel-default-base SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 6.4.0-150700.53.84.1.150700.17.47.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:4706-1SUSE-SU-2026:4640-1SUSE-SU-2026:24316-1SUSE-SU-2026:24315-1SUSE-SU-2026:24181-1SUSE-SU-2026:24182-1
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/52dc40ef0cfee6ae89b7524967e73f0ba37906d7 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/1dd9cb98fe228e017fff9efb33862ff38c741b65 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6df926130aee6cab9b5d2e5b7862e49ccac348dc commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/311011f8cc206c5af2877b03e3f627ee1b8fe024 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/18a693733f7ad004e1ab0466693121ca70cd95dd commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/16d3ccdabb8dee9be2cdcd6d3f9a125572ec0454 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/6883269a323609f68f6faa903f8f8ff3d191cec8 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/45ca1afe2fd14c04e37227e79d3f8455831d8408 commit
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-72138 updated cvss 5.5
kernel: xen/gntdev: fix error handling in ioctl
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernelnot affected: vulnerable code not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
- Assessed
- 2 d ago
Exploit prediction
0.22% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 12% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/52dc40ef0cfee6ae89b7524967e73f0ba37906d7
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/1dd9cb98fe228e017fff9efb33862ff38c741b65
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/6df926130aee6cab9b5d2e5b7862e49ccac348dc
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/311011f8cc206c5af2877b03e3f627ee1b8fe024
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/18a693733f7ad004e1ab0466693121ca70cd95dd
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/16d3ccdabb8dee9be2cdcd6d3f9a125572ec0454
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/6883269a323609f68f6faa903f8f8ff3d191cec8
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/45ca1afe2fd14c04e37227e79d3f8455831d8408
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-72138
- NVD CVE-2026-72138
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.