# CVE-2026-31466: mm/huge_memory: fix folio isn't locked in softleaf_to_folio()

> A race condition in the Linux kernel memory management subsystem can cause a kernel warning or crash due to missing memory barriers during huge page splitting.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-31466, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-31466, GHSA-j7cp-5j3g-7q5w, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-31466, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-31466, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-31466, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-31466

## What is CVE-2026-31466?

CVE-2026-31466 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/huge_memory: fix folio isn't locked in softleaf_to_folio()

On arm64 server, we found folio that get from migration entry isn't locked
in softleaf_to_folio().  This issue triggers when mTHP splitting and
zap_nonpresent_ptes() races, and the root cause is lack of memory barrier
in softleaf_to_folio().  The race is as follows:

	CPU0                                             CPU1

deferred_split_scan()                              zap_nonpresent_ptes()
  lock folio
  split_folio()
    unmap_folio()
      change ptes to migration entries
    __split_folio_to_order()                         softleaf_to_folio()
      set flags(including PG_locked) for tail pages    folio = pfn_folio(softleaf_to_pfn(entry))
      smp_wmb()                                        VM_WARN_ON_ONCE(!folio_test_locked(folio))
      prep_compound_page() for tail pages

In __split_folio_to_order(), smp_wmb() guarantees page flags of tail pages
are visible before the tail page becomes non-compound.  smp_wmb() should
be paired with smp_rmb() in softleaf_to_folio(), which is missed.  As a
result, if zap_nonpresent_ptes() accesses migration entry that stores tail
pfn, softleaf_to_folio() may see the updated compound_head of tail page
before page->flags.

This issue will trigger VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() in pfn_swap_entry_folio()
because of the race between folio split and zap_nonpresent_ptes()
leading to a folio incorrectly undergoing modification without a folio
lock being held.

This is a BUG_ON() before commit 93976a20345b ("mm: eliminate further
swapops predicates"), which in merged in v6.19-rc1.

To fix it, add missing smp_rmb() if the softleaf entry is migration entry
in softleaf_to_folio() and softleaf_to_page().

[tujinjiang@huawei.com: update function name and comments]

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-31466?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-31466?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-31466 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-31466 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-2026-31466 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-31466 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-2026-31466 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-2026-31466/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31466/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-31466
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-31466
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-31466

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-31466/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.