CVE-2026-72224 nvdimm/btt: Free arenas on btt_init() error paths
A memory leak in the Linux kernel's BTT initialization allows local attackers to cause denial of service by exhausting system memory.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-72224?
CVE-2026-72224 is a memory corruption 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:
nvdimm/btt: Free arenas on btt_init() error paths
The arenas allocated by discover_arenas() or create_arenas() are not freed on some error paths in btt_init(). This leaks memory when BTT initialization fails.
Call free_arenas() from the affected error paths to release the allocations.
[ as: commit message and log edits ]
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72224?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72224?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-72224 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72224 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-72224, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72224, GHSA-q73q-4f49-3w94, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72224.