# CVE-2026-31445: mm/damon/core: avoid use of half-online-committed context

> A race condition in Linux kernel DAMON subsystem can cause a NULL pointer dereference and system crash if memory allocation fails during context updates.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-31445, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31445, GHSA-233v-w7h6-4599, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31445

## What is CVE-2026-31445?

CVE-2026-31445 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/damon/core: avoid use of half-online-committed context

One major usage of damon_call() is online DAMON parameters update.  It is
done by calling damon_commit_ctx() inside the damon_call() callback
function.  damon_commit_ctx() can fail for two reasons: 1) invalid
parameters and 2) internal memory allocation failures.  In case of
failures, the damon_ctx that attempted to be updated (commit destination)
can be partially updated (or, corrupted from a perspective), and therefore
shouldn't be used anymore.  The function only ensures the damon_ctx object
can safely deallocated using damon_destroy_ctx().

The API callers are, however, calling damon_commit_ctx() only after
asserting the parameters are valid, to avoid damon_commit_ctx() fails due
to invalid input parameters.  But it can still theoretically fail if the
internal memory allocation fails.  In the case, DAMON may run with the
partially updated damon_ctx.  This can result in unexpected behaviors
including even NULL pointer dereference in case of damos_commit_dests()
failure [1].  Such allocation failure is arguably too small to fail, so
the real world impact would be rare.  But, given the bad consequence, this
needs to be fixed.

Avoid such partially-committed (maybe-corrupted) damon_ctx use by saving
the damon_commit_ctx() failure on the damon_ctx object.  For this,
introduce damon_ctx->maybe_corrupted field.  damon_commit_ctx() sets it
when it is failed.  kdamond_call() checks if the field is set after each
damon_call_control->fn() is executed.  If it is set, ignore remaining
callback requests and return.  All kdamond_call() callers including
kdamond_fn() also check the maybe_corrupted field right after
kdamond_call() invocations.  If the field is set, break the kdamond_fn()
main loop so that DAMON sill doesn't use the context that might be
corrupted.

[sj@kernel.org: let kdamond_call() with cancel regardless of maybe_corrupted]

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31445?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31445?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31445 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31445 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-31445 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31445 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31445 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31445/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31445/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31445
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31445
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31445

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31445/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.