# CVE-2026-53207: mm/memory-failure: fix hugetlb_lock AA deadlock in get_huge_page_for_hwpoison

> Concurrent madvise calls on hugetlb pages cause a deadlock, leading to system denial of service.

- **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:** 25 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 25 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-90543, BELL-CVE-2026-53207, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53207, GHSA-hfrj-r4v7-3997, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53207, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-53207, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-53207, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53207

## What is CVE-2026-53207?

CVE-2026-53207 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jun 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/memory-failure: fix hugetlb_lock AA deadlock in get_huge_page_for_hwpoison

Two concurrent madvise(MADV_HWPOISON) calls on the same hugetlb page can
trigger a recursive spinlock self-deadlock (AA deadlock) on hugetlb_lock
when racing with a concurrent unmap:

  thread#0                              thread#1
  --------                              --------
  madvise(folio, MADV_HWPOISON)
    -> poisons the folio successfully
  madvise(folio, MADV_HWPOISON)         unmap(folio)
    try_memory_failure_hugetlb
      get_huge_page_for_hwpoison
        spin_lock_irq(&hugetlb_lock)    <- held
        __get_huge_page_for_hwpoison
          hugetlb_update_hwpoison()
            -> MF_HUGETLB_FOLIO_PRE_POISONED
          goto out:
            folio_put()
              refcount: 1 -> 0
              free_huge_folio()
                spin_lock_irqsave(&hugetlb_lock)
                  -> AA DEADLOCK!

The out: path in __get_huge_page_for_hwpoison() calls folio_put() to drop
the GUP reference while the hugetlb_lock is still held by the hugetlb.c
wrapper get_huge_page_for_hwpoison().  If concurrent unmap has released
the page table mapping reference, folio_put() drops the folio refcount to
zero, triggering free_huge_folio() which attempts to re-acquire the
non-recursive hugetlb_lock.

Fix this by moving hugetlb_lock acquisition from the hugetlb.c wrapper
into get_huge_page_for_hwpoison().  Place spin_unlock_irq() before the
folio_put() at the out: label so the folio is always released outside the
lock.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: fix race, rename label per Miaohe]

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53207?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-53207?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-53207 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53207 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-2026-53207 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-53207 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jun 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-2026-53207 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-2026-53207/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53207/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53207
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53207
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53207

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53207/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.