# CVE-2026-72177: mm/damon/sysfs-schemes: fix dir put orders in access_pattern_add_dirs()

> Local attackers can trigger uninitialized memory dereference or memory leaks in the Linux kernel DAMON sysfs interface, potentially causing system crashes.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72177, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72177, GHSA-6mfj-xx36-5894, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72177

## What is CVE-2026-72177?

CVE-2026-72177 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:

mm/damon/sysfs-schemes: fix dir put orders in access_pattern_add_dirs()

Patch series "mm/damon/sysfs-schemes: fix wrong directories put orders in
error paths".

Error paths of damon_sysfs_access_pattern_add_dirs() and
damon_sysfs_scheme_add_dirs() functions put references to directories in
wrong orders.  As a result, uninitialized memory dereference and/or
memory leak can happen.  Fix those.

This patch (of 2):

In access_pattern_add_dirs(), error handling path puts references starting
from setup failed directories.  If the failure happpened from the initial
allication in the setup functions, uninitialized memory dereference
happen.  The allocation failures will not commonly happen, but the
consequence is quite bad.  Fix the wrong reference put orders.

The issue was discovered [1] by Sashiko.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72177?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72177?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72177 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72177 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72177 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72177 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-2026-72177 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-2026-72177/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72177/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72177
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72177
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72177

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72177/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.