CVE-2026-72043
LoongArch: Fix missing dirty page tracking in {pte,pmd}_wrprotect()
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: LoongArch: Fix missing dirty page tracking in {pte,pmd}_wrprotect() When hardware page table walker (PTW) is enabled on LoongArch, the CPU may set _PAGE_DIRTY directly in the page table entry during a write TLB miss, without going through the software TLB store handler. The software TLB store handler (tlbex.S:254) sets both _PAGE_DIRTY and_PAGE_MODIFIED together: ori t0, t0, (_PAGE_VALID | _PAGE_DIRTY | _PAGE_MODIFIED) Since hardware PTW only sets _PAGE_DIRTY, the software-only bit, i.e. _PAGE_MODIFIED is left unchanged. This creates a window where a PTE has _PAGE_DIRTY set (hardware knows the page is dirty) but _PAGE_MODIFIED clear (software is unaware). When fork()/clone() triggers copy-on-write, __copy_present_ptes() calls pte_wrprotect(), which unconditionally clears both the _PAGE_WRITE and _PAGE_DIRTY bits: pte_val(pte) &= ~(_PAGE_WRITE | _PAGE_DIRTY); Since _PAGE_MODIFIED was never set, the dirtiness information is lost completely. Subsequently, when memory pressure triggers page reclaim, page_mkclean() / try_to_unmap() sees the page as clean (i.e. pte_dirty() returns false) and the page may be freed without writeback, causing data corruption. Fix this by propagating the _PAGE_DIRTY bit to the _PAGE_MODIFIED bit in both pte_wrprotect() and pmd_wrprotect() before clearing writeable bits: if (pte_val(pte) & _PAGE_DIRTY) pte_val(pte) |= _PAGE_MODIFIED; The pmd_wrprotect() fix handles the CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE case, where pmd entries need the same treatment. This ensures the software dirty tracking bit (checked by pte_dirty() and pmd_dirty(), which read both the _PAGE_DIRTY and _PAGE_MODIFIED bits) is preserved across fork COW write-protection. The issue was found by the LTP madvise09 test case, which exercises page reclaim after "madvise(MADV_FREE), write and fork" operation sequence on private anonymous mappings.
INFO
Published Date :
Aug. 15, 2026, 6:21 a.m.
Last Modified :
Aug. 17, 2026, 6:18 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 |
Solution
- Update the Linux kernel to the patched version.
- Verify dirty page tracking logic in page table entries.
- Ensure _PAGE_DIRTY is propagated to _PAGE_MODIFIED.
- Test page reclaim after fork and COW operations.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-72043.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-72043 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-72043
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-72043 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-72043 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
CVE Modified by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Aug. 17, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N Changed Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '76f88650763a35cbf1384c65d66d096fa31cc58d', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'e8a916579e427af32f2de8213dfa23c5df6e6664', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '39bb21a4bff0d70058bf752d7b5aa2e2ccc864a9', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'a65f49b6f7ece756394f8f0e85570020e7fd0e35', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'e483da960892c41fa7f0cf0d2fc2410d65a483d6', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '018e9828eb523c638fa3d9bdf0fd4956b74555b2', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '5.19'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '5.19', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'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-rc1', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '76f88650763a35cbf1384c65d66d096fa31cc58d', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'e8a916579e427af32f2de8213dfa23c5df6e6664', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '39bb21a4bff0d70058bf752d7b5aa2e2ccc864a9', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'a65f49b6f7ece756394f8f0e85570020e7fd0e35', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'e483da960892c41fa7f0cf0d2fc2410d65a483d6', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '018e9828eb523c638fa3d9bdf0fd4956b74555b2', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '5.19'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '5.19', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'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': ['arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] -
New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Aug. 15, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '76f88650763a35cbf1384c65d66d096fa31cc58d', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'e8a916579e427af32f2de8213dfa23c5df6e6664', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '39bb21a4bff0d70058bf752d7b5aa2e2ccc864a9', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'a65f49b6f7ece756394f8f0e85570020e7fd0e35', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': 'e483da960892c41fa7f0cf0d2fc2410d65a483d6', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '09cfefb7fa70c3af011b0db0a513fd80b2f18abc', 'lessThan': '018e9828eb523c638fa3d9bdf0fd4956b74555b2', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '5.19'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '5.19', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.1.178', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.1.*'}, {'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-rc1', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['arch/loongarch/include/asm/pgtable.h'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: LoongArch: Fix missing dirty page tracking in {pte,pmd}_wrprotect() When hardware page table walker (PTW) is enabled on LoongArch, the CPU may set _PAGE_DIRTY directly in the page table entry during a write TLB miss, without going through the software TLB store handler. The software TLB store handler (tlbex.S:254) sets both _PAGE_DIRTY and_PAGE_MODIFIED together: ori t0, t0, (_PAGE_VALID | _PAGE_DIRTY | _PAGE_MODIFIED) Since hardware PTW only sets _PAGE_DIRTY, the software-only bit, i.e. _PAGE_MODIFIED is left unchanged. This creates a window where a PTE has _PAGE_DIRTY set (hardware knows the page is dirty) but _PAGE_MODIFIED clear (software is unaware). When fork()/clone() triggers copy-on-write, __copy_present_ptes() calls pte_wrprotect(), which unconditionally clears both the _PAGE_WRITE and _PAGE_DIRTY bits: pte_val(pte) &= ~(_PAGE_WRITE | _PAGE_DIRTY); Since _PAGE_MODIFIED was never set, the dirtiness information is lost completely. Subsequently, when memory pressure triggers page reclaim, page_mkclean() / try_to_unmap() sees the page as clean (i.e. pte_dirty() returns false) and the page may be freed without writeback, causing data corruption. Fix this by propagating the _PAGE_DIRTY bit to the _PAGE_MODIFIED bit in both pte_wrprotect() and pmd_wrprotect() before clearing writeable bits: if (pte_val(pte) & _PAGE_DIRTY) pte_val(pte) |= _PAGE_MODIFIED; The pmd_wrprotect() fix handles the CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE case, where pmd entries need the same treatment. This ensures the software dirty tracking bit (checked by pte_dirty() and pmd_dirty(), which read both the _PAGE_DIRTY and _PAGE_MODIFIED bits) is preserved across fork COW write-protection. The issue was found by the LTP madvise09 test case, which exercises page reclaim after "madvise(MADV_FREE), write and fork" operation sequence on private anonymous mappings. Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/018e9828eb523c638fa3d9bdf0fd4956b74555b2 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/39bb21a4bff0d70058bf752d7b5aa2e2ccc864a9 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/76f88650763a35cbf1384c65d66d096fa31cc58d Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a65f49b6f7ece756394f8f0e85570020e7fd0e35 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e483da960892c41fa7f0cf0d2fc2410d65a483d6 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e8a916579e427af32f2de8213dfa23c5df6e6664