mm/hugetlb: fix list corruption in allocate_file_region_entries()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 10 fixed, 1 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: mm/hugetlb: fix list corruption in allocate_file_region_entries() allocate_file_region_entries() tops up resv->region_cache with freshly allocated file_region descriptors. The allocation uses GFP_KERNEL, so resv->lock is dropped around it: the new entries are gathered on a stack-local list head, allocated_regions, and spliced into resv->region_cache once the lock is re-acquired. The splice used list_splice(), which moves the entries but does not re-initialize the source head, so allocated_regions is left pointing at an entry that now lives on resv->region_cache. The top-up runs in a while loop that re-checks the cache deficit after re-acquiring the lock. For a shared mapping the resv_map is shared by every mapper of the hugetlbfs inode, so a concurrent region_chg()/region_add()/region_del() on the same resv_map can consume cache entries during the unlocked window and force a second iteration. That iteration calls list_add() on the stale head and corrupts the list; with CONFIG_DEBUG_LIST the __list_add_valid() check trips: list_add corruption. next->prev should be prev (ffffc900011ff7f8), but was ffff88814c281460. (next=ffff88814c545640). kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:31! allocate_file_region_entries+0x191/0x420 region_chg+0x267/0x300 hugetlb_reserve_pages+0x387/0xc80 hugetlbfs_file_mmap+0x2ce/0x3f0 mmap_region+0x1348/0x1a80 do_mmap+0x85e/0xb90 vm_mmap_pgoff+0x18c/0x330 ksys_mmap_pgoff+0x2a1/0x3e0 do_syscall_64+0xd7/0x420 Without CONFIG_DEBUG_LIST the bad list_add() silently links a kernel-stack address into resv->region_cache, leading to later use-after-free. This was observed as a real host panic on a dense KVM host where a QEMU guest-RAM hugetlbfs file was mapped MAP_SHARED by both QEMU and a separate SPDK/DPDK vhost-user target, generating concurrent region_* traffic on one shared resv_map. Use list_splice_init() so the source head is re-initialized empty after each splice, making the retry loop safe.
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 5.10.265, 5.15.216, 6.1.183, 6.6.151, 6.12.103, 6.18.44, 7.1.8, 7.2
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2026:70459 Released 2026-09-23 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-core-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, libperf-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k-core-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-687.50.1.el9_8 +9
- RHSA-2026:70498 Released 2026-09-23 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) kernel-64k-debug-devel-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-devel-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) kernel-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-core-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) kernel-tools-libs-devel-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, libperf-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-core-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-core-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-6.12.0-211.58.1.el10_2 +9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70498 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70459 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70498 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70459 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70498 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70459 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70498 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70459 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70498 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70459 |
Not affected: 3 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-74518
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9v2f-674j-mrjw
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/01b8569233e47693d6ff7efa96d9854c55f936fc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9c5fdffc5e1ce84403c58289ee72697051803bf7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f3e54f6a5e1681f83d13e8716bc92ef5ecf121d3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62e1c2741a4d923d9854efd5927a6212aad7a187
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/587a0accc2b4fccc5cf7baf0fe34e50efde51f9c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/126a70bf1a08ddc9d79c471ebdaa2b08cfbab8df
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac1bb7fd45088d0db57a22ce7729f258ebd63cf5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd9623f58ec702a07b2d67179d6fcea79c52231a
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Sources
- CVE-2026-74518 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-74518 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-9v2f-674j-mrjw · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-74518 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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