# CVE-2026-72169: kho: make sure scratch size is always aligned by CMA_MIN_ALIGNMENT_BYTES

> A kernel memory management flaw allows local attackers to cause denial of service by specifying unaligned scratch sizes via command line.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **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-2026-72169, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72169, GHSA-8wjg-7mhv-9g56, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72169

## What is CVE-2026-72169?

CVE-2026-72169 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:

kho: make sure scratch size is always aligned by CMA_MIN_ALIGNMENT_BYTES

When using scratch_scale, the scratch sizes are rounded up to
CMA_MIN_ALIGNMENT_BYTES since they will be released as MIGRATE_CMA. This
is not done when using fixed scratch sizes via command line. This can
result in user specifying a size which is not aligned, and thus kernel
releasing a pageblock that is only partially scratch.

Do the rounding up for both cases in scratch_size_update().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72169?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72169?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72169 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72169 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72169 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72169 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-2026-72169 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-2026-72169/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72169/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72169
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72169
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72169

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72169/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.