7.8

CVE-2026-72172: mm/mm_init: fix uninitialized struct pages for ZONE_DEVICE

Received
AliasesUBUNTU-CVE-2026-72172DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72172
Published 15-08-2026Last modified 16-10-2026

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-72172 is a high (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.17% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 6.2% of scored vulnerabilities.

Priority
Routine

Not severe (CVSS 7.8, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources

Source freshness unavailable

How is this decided?
CVSS score
7.8/10
010
High · v3.1 (CVE.org)
EPSS score
0.17%
0%100%
Low · -0.01 pp in 30 days
KEVNot listedNot listed by any tracked catalog.
RansomwareNot flaggedNo ransomware use recorded.
Public exploits0No public exploits recorded

Advisory lineage

Upstream 0 · Downstream 18 · Related 18
OPENSUSE-SU-2026:22167-1SUSE-SU-2026:24371-1SUSE-SU-2026:24379-1SUSE-SU-2026:24386-1SUSE-SU-2026:24422-1SUSE-SU-2026:24437-1

Timeline

  1. 15-08-2026
    PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
  2. 16-10-2026
    Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

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.

CVSS metrics

4 scores · 4 sources · 1 version

EPSS trend

Probability

0.17%

Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days

Percentile

6%

Versus all other CVEs

30-day change

Decrease -0.01 pp

From 0.18% on 04-10-2026

04-10-202603-11-2026

Known exploited

Compare KEV catalogs
CISA KEV

Not in the CISA KEV catalog.

ENISA CNW

Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.

CIRCL

Not in the CIRCL catalog.

Public exploits

0 found

No public exploits indexed.

Weaknesses

CWE · root cause

No weakness data has been published for this record.

Affected systems

Version check

Known conditions: local access, low-privilege account, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.

Ubuntu142 products
  • linuxAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 6.8.0-147.147 | < 7.0.0-38.38
  • linux-allwinner-5.19All versions (No fix recorded)
  • linux-awsAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 6.8.0-1067.70 | < 7.0.0-1014.14
  • linux-aws-5.0All versions (No fix recorded)
  • linux-aws-5.11All versions (No fix recorded)
Debian1 product
  • linux< 6.1.187-1 | < 6.12.100-1 | < 7.1.5-1
Linux1 product
  • linux≥ 6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1, < c5ef574d57e4a701485c13f26822328c91f05413 | ≥ 6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1, < 511a60e71aec308b24722cffc1912bf6befb87bf | ≥ 6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1, < 11f2826e9ee6f24aaa774e3dcd75abbe4b3091b6 | ≥ 6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1, < da5234df0941665f3a3f5b80f3dab94046537be0 | ≥ 6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1, < b91e27bce37cab9f35de0059278ebe457ca9878b | ≥ 6fd3620b342861de9547ea01d28f664892ef51a1, < cd681403a87085562499d60325b7b45d3be11217 | 5.19

3 vendors · 144 products

References

19 links
Show all 19 references