# CVE-2026-72016: cpu/hotplug: Fix NULL kobject warning in cpuhp_smt_enable()

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel CPU hotplug code can cause a system crash when booting with specific CPU configurations.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72016, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72016, GHSA-jpp3-3v9r-hwrp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72016

## What is CVE-2026-72016?

CVE-2026-72016 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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:

cpu/hotplug: Fix NULL kobject warning in cpuhp_smt_enable()

On arm64, when booting with `maxcpus` greater than the number of present
CPUs (e.g., QEMU -smp cpus=4,maxcpus=8), some CPUs are marked as 'present'
but have not yet been registered via register_cpu(). Consequently,
the per-cpu device objects for these CPUs are not yet initialized.

In cpuhp_smt_enable(), the code iterates over all present CPUs. Calling
_cpu_up() for these unregistered CPUs eventually leads to
sysfs_create_group() being called with a NULL kobject (or a kobject
without a directory), triggering the following warning in
fs/sysfs/group.c:

  WARNING: fs/sysfs/group.c:137 at internal_create_group+0x41c/0x4bc, CPU#2: sh/181
  [...]
  Call trace:
    internal_create_group+0x41c/0x4bc (P)
    sysfs_create_group+0x18/0x24
    topology_add_dev+0x1c/0x28
    cpuhp_invoke_callback+0x104/0x20c
    __cpuhp_invoke_callback_range+0x94/0x11c
    _cpu_up+0x200/0x37c

When booting with ACPI, arm64 smp_prepare_cpus() currently sets all
enumerated CPUs as "present" regardless of their status in the MADT. This
causes issues with SMT hotplug control. For instance, with QEMU's
"-smp 4,maxcpus=8" configuration, the MADT GICC entries are populated as
follows:

1. The first four CPUs: `Enabled` set but `Online Capable` not set.

2. The remaining four CPUs: `Online Capable` set but `Enabled` not set
   to support potential hot-plugging.

Fix this by:

1. When booting with ACPI, checking the ACPI_MADT_ENABLED flag in the GICC
   entry before calling set_cpu_present() during SMP initialization.

2. Properly managing the present mask in acpi_map_cpu() and
   acpi_unmap_cpu() to support actual CPU hotplug events, This aligns with
   other architectures like x86 and LoongArch.

3. Update the arm64 CPU hotplug documentation to no longer state that all
   online-capable vCPUs are marked as present by the kernel at boot time.

This ensures that only physically available or explicitly enabled CPUs
are in the present mask, keeping the SMT control logic consistent with
the actual hardware state.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72016?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72016?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72016 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72016 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72016 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72016 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 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-2026-72016 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-72016/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72016/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72016
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72016
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72016

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72016/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.