CVE-2026-53265 dm cache policy smq: check allocation under invalidate lock
A race condition in the Linux kernel's dm cache policy allows concurrent invalidators to corrupt data structures, potentially causing crashes or data corruption.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-53265?
CVE-2026-53265 is a high-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:
dm cache policy smq: check allocation under invalidate lock
commit 2d1f7b65f5de ("dm cache policy smq: fix missing locks in invalidating cache blocks") added mq->lock around the destructive part of smq_invalidate_mapping(), but left the e->allocated check outside the critical section.
That leaves a check-then-act race. Two concurrent invalidators can both observe e->allocated as true before either of them takes mq->lock. The first invalidator that acquires the lock removes the entry from the queues and hash table and then calls free_entry(), which clears e->allocated and puts the entry back on the free list. The second invalidator can then acquire mq->lock and continue with the stale result of the unlocked check.
This can corrupt the SMQ queues or hash table by deleting an entry that is no longer on those structures. It can also hit the allocation check in free_entry() when the same entry is freed again.
Move the allocation check under mq->lock so the predicate and the destructive operations are serialized by the same lock.
Weakness: CWE-362
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53265?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2026-53265?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-53265 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-53265 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-90977, BELL-CVE-2026-53265, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53265, GHSA-257g-7vrp-j9f8, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-53265, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-53265 and 2 more.