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Fencer Vulns
no cvss —

CVE-2026-72174 json

fs/proc/task_mmu: fix hugetlb self-deadlock in pagemap_scan_pte_hole()

published 2026-08-15 2 mo ago modified 2026-08-17 2 mo ago also EUVD-2026-58932

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 10%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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

fs/proc/task_mmu: fix hugetlb self-deadlock in pagemap_scan_pte_hole()

A PAGEMAP_SCAN ioctl requesting PM_SCAN_WP_MATCHING on a hugetlb VMA hangs the calling thread, unkillably, as soon as the scan reaches an unpopulated part of the range:

do_pagemap_scan() walk_page_range() walk_hugetlb_range() hugetlb_vma_lock_read() # take the vma lock for read ... pagemap_scan_pte_hole() # ... ->pte_hole() for a hole uffd_wp_range() change_protection() hugetlb_change_protection() hugetlb_vma_lock_write() # ... and block taking it for write

walk_hugetlb_range() holds the hugetlb vma lock for read across the whole walk. A present entry goes to ->hugetlb_entry(); an unpopulated one goes to ->pte_hole(), i.e. pagemap_scan_pte_hole(). To write-protect the hole that handler calls uffd_wp_range(), which on a hugetlb VMA reaches hugetlb_change_protection() and takes the same vma lock for write. The thread then blocks in down_write() waiting for the read lock it is itself holding.

The populated path avoids this: pagemap_scan_hugetlb_entry() write-protects the entry inline under the page-table lock and never enters hugetlb_change_protection().

Do the same for holes. Fault in the page table and install the uffd-wp marker directly with make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() under the page-table lock, rather than routing through uffd_wp_range(). That is the same sequence hugetlb_change_protection() runs for an unpopulated entry, minus the vma write lock -- which is safe to skip because PMD sharing is disabled on uffd-wp VMAs (hugetlb_unshare_all_pmds() runs at registration), leaving nothing for that lock to serialise against.

Patch / fix

  • Linux Linux 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2
  • linux Debian 13 6.12.100-1
  • linux Debian 14 7.1.5-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72174

  • linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-147.147
  • linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-38.38
  • 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 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1071.79
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1014.14
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1066.74
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1008.9

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72174

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-rt Linux Micro 6.2 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-64kb SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-source SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-default SLES 16.0, SLE High Availability Extension 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2 +1 more 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-default-base SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1.160000.2.29
  • kernel-syms SLES 16.0, Linux Micro Extras 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-azure SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-obs-qa SLES for SAP applications 16.0, SLES 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:24422-1SUSE-SU-2026:24446-1SUSE-SU-2026:24437-1SUSE-SU-2026:24386-1

  • kernel-rt openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-azure openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-source openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1
  • kernel-default openSUSE Leap 16.0 6.12.0-160000.40.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:22167-1

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-2026-72174 updated cvss 5.5

kernel: fs/proc/task_mmu: fix hugetlb self-deadlock in pagemap_scan_pte_hole()

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
    affected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel
    affected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
  • 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
    not 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

Exploit prediction

0.21% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 10% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Affected products

  • Linux Linux

Classification

Technology feeds

References

Sources

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