# CVE-2026-64418: mm: shrinker: fix shrinker_info teardown race with expansion

> A race condition in the Linux kernel memory management subsystem allows attackers to trigger a double free, potentially leading to code execution or system crashes.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-64418, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64418, GHSA-q5wg-g4g8-xfhc, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-64418, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64418

## What is CVE-2026-64418?

CVE-2026-64418 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jul 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: shrinker: fix shrinker_info teardown race with expansion

expand_shrinker_info() iterates all visible memcgs under shrinker_mutex,
including memcgs that have not finished ->css_online() yet.

Once pn->shrinker_info has been published, teardown must stay serialized
with expand_shrinker_info() until that memcg is either fully online or no
longer visible to iteration.  Today alloc_shrinker_info() breaks that rule
by dropping shrinker_mutex before freeing a partially initialized
shrinker_info array, which may cause the following race:

CPU0                   CPU1
====                   ====

css_create
--> list_add_tail_rcu(&css->sibling, &parent_css->children);
    online_css
    --> mem_cgroup_css_online
        --> alloc_shrinker_info
            --> alloc node0 info
                rcu_assign_pointer(C->node0->shrinker_info, old0)
                alloc node1 info -> FAIL -> goto err
                mutex_unlock(shrinker_mutex)

                       shrinker_alloc()
                       --> shrinker_memcg_alloc
                           --> mutex_lock(shrinker_mutex)
                               expand_shrinker_info
                               --> mem_cgroup_iter see the memcg
                                   expand_one_shrinker_info
                                   --> old0 = C->node0->shrinker_info
                                       memcpy(new->unit, old0->unit, ...);

                free_shrinker_info
                --> kvfree(old0);

                                       /* double free !! */
                                       kvfree_rcu(old0, rcu);

The same problem exists later in mem_cgroup_css_online().  If
alloc_shrinker_info() succeeds but a subsequent objcg allocation fails,
the free_objcg -> free_shrinker_info() unwind path tears down the already
published pn->shrinker_info arrays without shrinker_mutex.  The
expand_one_shrinker_info() can race with that teardown in the same way,
leading to use-after-free or double-free of the old shrinker_info.

Fix this by serializing shrinker_info teardown with shrinker_mutex, and by
keeping alloc_shrinker_info() error cleanup inside the locked section.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64418?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-64418?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-64418 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64418 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-2026-64418 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-64418 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Jul 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-2026-64418 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-2026-64418/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64418/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-64418
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64418
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-64418

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64418/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.