CVE-2026-72172
mm/mm_init: fix uninitialized struct pages for ZONE_DEVICE
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mm_init: fix uninitialized struct pages for ZONE_DEVICE If DAX memory is hotplugged into an unoccupied subsection of an early section, section_activate() reuses the unoptimized boot memmap. However, compound_nr_pages() still assumes that vmemmap optimization is in effect and initializes only the reduced number of struct pages. As a result, the remaining tail struct pages are left uninitialized, which can later lead to unexpected behavior or crashes. Fix this by treating early sections as unoptimized when calculating how many struct pages to initialize.
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
- Treat early sections as unoptimized for page initialization.
- Ensure all tail struct pages are initialized.
- Apply the resolved kernel patch.
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-2026-72172.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-72172 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-2026-72172
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-2026-72172 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-72172 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:H Changed Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': '511a60e71aec308b24722cffc1912bf6befb87bf', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': '11f2826e9ee6f24aaa774e3dcd75abbe4b3091b6', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'da5234df0941665f3a3f5b80f3dab94046537be0', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'b91e27bce37cab9f35de0059278ebe457ca9878b', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'cd681403a87085562499d60325b7b45d3be11217', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['mm/mm_init.c'], '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': '6.6.145', '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': ['mm/mm_init.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': '511a60e71aec308b24722cffc1912bf6befb87bf', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': '11f2826e9ee6f24aaa774e3dcd75abbe4b3091b6', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'da5234df0941665f3a3f5b80f3dab94046537be0', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'b91e27bce37cab9f35de0059278ebe457ca9878b', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'cd681403a87085562499d60325b7b45d3be11217', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['mm/mm_init.c'], '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': '6.6.145', '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/mm_init.c'], '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': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': '511a60e71aec308b24722cffc1912bf6befb87bf', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': '11f2826e9ee6f24aaa774e3dcd75abbe4b3091b6', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'da5234df0941665f3a3f5b80f3dab94046537be0', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'b91e27bce37cab9f35de0059278ebe457ca9878b', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1', 'lessThan': 'cd681403a87085562499d60325b7b45d3be11217', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['mm/mm_init.c'], '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': '6.6.145', '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': ['mm/mm_init.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mm_init: fix uninitialized struct pages for ZONE_DEVICE If DAX memory is hotplugged into an unoccupied subsection of an early section, section_activate() reuses the unoptimized boot memmap. However, compound_nr_pages() still assumes that vmemmap optimization is in effect and initializes only the reduced number of struct pages. As a result, the remaining tail struct pages are left uninitialized, which can later lead to unexpected behavior or crashes. Fix this by treating early sections as unoptimized when calculating how many struct pages to initialize. Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/11f2826e9ee6f24aaa774e3dcd75abbe4b3091b6 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/511a60e71aec308b24722cffc1912bf6befb87bf Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b91e27bce37cab9f35de0059278ebe457ca9878b Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cd681403a87085562499d60325b7b45d3be11217 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da5234df0941665f3a3f5b80f3dab94046537be0