fs/proc/task_mmu: fix make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() prot-update race
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs/proc/task_mmu: fix make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() prot-update race Patch series "userfaultfd/pagemap: pre-existing fixes". These are pre-existing bug fixes that were carried at the front of the userfaultfd RWP working-set-tracking series up to v5 [1]. Per review feedback that fixes should not sit in the middle of a feature series, they are split out and sent on their own; the RWP series is reposted rebased on top of this. All six were flagged by the Sashiko AI review of the RWP series and carry independent of RWP, apply to mm-new directly, and carry Cc: stable@. 1: fs/proc/task_mmu: a missing huge_ptep_modify_prot_start() in make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() can lose hardware Dirty/Accessed updates when PAGEMAP_SCAN write-protects a hugetlb PTE. 2: fs/proc/task_mmu: pagemap_scan_hugetlb_entry() compares the range against HPAGE_SIZE rather than the hstate page size, so it never write-protects gigantic hugetlb pages. 3: fs/proc/task_mmu: PAGEMAP_SCAN with PM_SCAN_WP_MATCHING over an unpopulated hugetlb range self-deadlocks -- pagemap_scan_pte_hole() calls uffd_wp_range() while walk_hugetlb_range() holds the hugetlb vma lock for read, and hugetlb_change_protection() then takes it for write. Install the marker inline instead. 4: mm/huge_memory: change_non_present_huge_pmd() drops pmd_swp_uffd_wp on a device-private PMD permission downgrade, silently losing the uffd-wp marker. 5: userfaultfd: must_wait() applies pte_write() to a locklessly read PTE without checking pte_present(), so swap/migration entries decode random offset bits and a thread can stay parked on a stale fault. 6: userfaultfd: __VMA_UFFD_FLAGS feeds VMA_UFFD_MINOR_BIT (41) to mk_vma_flags() unconditionally, an out-of-bounds write into the single-word vma_flags_t on 32-bit. Build the mask from config-gated per-mode masks so an unavailable bit is never materialised. This patch (of 6): make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() arms the UFFD_WP bit on a present HugeTLB PTE by calling huge_ptep_modify_prot_commit() with a ptent snapshot that was fetched without the corresponding huge_ptep_modify_prot_start(). The start helper is what atomically clears the entry so the kernel-owned snapshot stays consistent until the commit; without it, the hardware may set Dirty or Accessed in the live PTE between the original read and the commit, and huge_ptep_modify_prot_commit() (whose generic implementation just calls set_huge_pte_at()) then writes the stale snapshot back over the live hardware bits, losing the update. The non-hugetlb sibling make_uffd_wp_pte() does this correctly via ptep_modify_prot_start() / ptep_modify_prot_commit(). Mirror that pattern for the present-PTE branch. The migration case stays as-is -- migration entries are non-present, so there's no hardware update to race against.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.5, 7.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-72175
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-jw79-wr8v-532g
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-72175 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-72175 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-jw79-wr8v-532g · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-72175 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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