# CVE-2026-46008: mm/damon/core: fix damos_walk() vs kdamond_fn() exit race

> A race condition in the Linux kernel DAMON subsystem can cause a deadlock, leading to a denial of service.

- **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:** 27 May 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-46008, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-46008, GHSA-5mcx-8cmv-fvgx, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-46008

## What is CVE-2026-46008?

CVE-2026-46008 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 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: fix damos_walk() vs kdamond_fn() exit race

When kdamond_fn() main loop is finished, the function cancels remaining
damos_walk() request and unset the damon_ctx->kdamond so that API callers
and API functions themselves can show the context is terminated. 
damos_walk() adds the caller's request to the queue first.  After that, it
shows if the kdamond of the damon_ctx is still running (damon_ctx->kdamond
is set).  Only if the kdamond is running, damos_walk() starts waiting for
the kdamond's handling of the newly added request.

The damos_walk() requests registration and damon_ctx->kdamond unset are
protected by different mutexes, though.  Hence, damos_walk() could race
with damon_ctx->kdamond unset, and result in deadlocks.

For example, let's suppose kdamond successfully finished the damow_walk()
request cancelling.  Right after that, damos_walk() is called for the
context.  It registers the new request, and shows the context is still
running, because damon_ctx->kdamond unset is not yet done.  Hence the
damos_walk() caller starts waiting for the handling of the request. 
However, the kdamond is already on the termination steps, so it never
handles the new request.  As a result, the damos_walk() caller thread
infinitely waits.

Fix this by introducing another damon_ctx field, namely
walk_control_obsolete.  It is protected by the
damon_ctx->walk_control_lock, which protects damos_walk() request
registration.  Initialize (unset) it in kdamond_fn() before letting
damon_start() returns and set it just before the cancelling of the
remaining damos_walk() request is executed.  damos_walk() reads the
obsolete field under the lock and avoids adding a new request.

After this change, only requests that are guaranteed to be handled or
cancelled are registered.  Hence the after-registration DAMON context
termination check is no longer needed.  Remove it together.

The issue is found by sashiko [1].

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46008?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-46008?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-46008 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46008 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-2026-46008 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-46008 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 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-2026-46008 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-2026-46008/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46008/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46008
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46008
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46008

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46008/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.