# CVE-2026-72175: fs/proc/task_mmu: fix make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() prot-update race

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's userfaultfd and pagemap handling can cause deadlocks or memory corruption, requiring a kernel patch.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72175, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72175, GHSA-jw79-wr8v-532g, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72175

## What is CVE-2026-72175?

CVE-2026-72175 is a high-severity 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:

fs/proc/task_mmu: fix make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() prot-update race

Patch series "userfaultfd/pagemap: pre-existing fixes".

These are pre-existing bug fixes that were carried at the front of the
userfaultfd RWP working-set-tracking series up to v5 [1].  Per review
feedback that fixes should not sit in the middle of a feature series, they
are split out and sent on their own; the RWP series is reposted rebased on
top of this.

All six were flagged by the Sashiko AI review of the RWP series and carry
independent of RWP, apply to mm-new directly, and carry Cc: stable@.

  1: fs/proc/task_mmu: a missing huge_ptep_modify_prot_start() in
     make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() can lose hardware Dirty/Accessed updates
     when PAGEMAP_SCAN write-protects a hugetlb PTE.

  2: fs/proc/task_mmu: pagemap_scan_hugetlb_entry() compares the range
     against HPAGE_SIZE rather than the hstate page size, so it never
     write-protects gigantic hugetlb pages.

  3: fs/proc/task_mmu: PAGEMAP_SCAN with PM_SCAN_WP_MATCHING over an
     unpopulated hugetlb range self-deadlocks -- pagemap_scan_pte_hole()
     calls uffd_wp_range() while walk_hugetlb_range() holds the hugetlb
     vma lock for read, and hugetlb_change_protection() then takes it
     for write. Install the marker inline instead.

  4: mm/huge_memory: change_non_present_huge_pmd() drops pmd_swp_uffd_wp
     on a device-private PMD permission downgrade, silently losing the
     uffd-wp marker.

  5: userfaultfd: must_wait() applies pte_write() to a locklessly read
     PTE without checking pte_present(), so swap/migration entries
     decode random offset bits and a thread can stay parked on a stale
     fault.

  6: userfaultfd: __VMA_UFFD_FLAGS feeds VMA_UFFD_MINOR_BIT (41) to
     mk_vma_flags() unconditionally, an out-of-bounds write into the
     single-word vma_flags_t on 32-bit. Build the mask from config-gated
     per-mode masks so an unavailable bit is never materialised.

This patch (of 6):

make_uffd_wp_huge_pte() arms the UFFD_WP bit on a present HugeTLB PTE by
calling huge_ptep_modify_prot_commit() with a ptent snapshot that was
fetched without the corresponding huge_ptep_modify_prot_start().  The
start helper is what atomically clears the entry so the kernel-owned
snapshot stays consistent until the commit; without it, the hardware may
set Dirty or Accessed in the live PTE between the original read and the
commit, and huge_ptep_modify_prot_commit() (whose generic implementation
just calls set_huge_pte_at()) then writes the stale snapshot back over the
live hardware bits, losing the update.

The non-hugetlb sibling make_uffd_wp_pte() does this correctly via
ptep_modify_prot_start() / ptep_modify_prot_commit().  Mirror that pattern
for the present-PTE branch.  The migration case stays as-is -- migration
entries are non-present, so there's no hardware update to race against.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72175?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72175?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72175 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72175 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72175 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72175 is a high-severity 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-2026-72175 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-2026-72175/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72175/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72175
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72175
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72175

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72175/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.