# CVE-2026-72244: gpu/buddy: bail out of try_harder when alignment cannot be honoured

> The Linux kernel GPU buddy allocator could return misaligned memory ranges, potentially causing functional issues or instability in GPU drivers.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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-2026-72244, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72244, GHSA-c4ph-4532-7vq7, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72244

## What is CVE-2026-72244?

CVE-2026-72244 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:

gpu/buddy: bail out of try_harder when alignment cannot be honoured

The try_harder contiguous fallback could return a range whose start
offset did not match the caller's min_block_size. When a candidate's
start is misaligned, realign it: free the misaligned run and reallocate
exactly @size at the next lower min_block_size boundary. This keeps the
returned size unchanged with no surplus to trim, and rejects the request
only when no aligned candidate fits.

v2: align misaligned candidates down to min_block_size instead of
    bailing out, for both the RHS and LHS paths (Matthew).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72244?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72244?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72244 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72244 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72244 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72244 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-2026-72244 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-2026-72244/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72244/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72244
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72244
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72244

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72244/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.