CVE-2026-72372 afs: Fix lack of locking around modifications of net->cells_dyn_ino
A race condition in the Linux kernel AFS module due to missing locks can lead to system instability or denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-72372?
CVE-2026-72372 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:
afs: Fix lack of locking around modifications of net->cells_dyn_ino
Fix the lack of locking around modifications of net->cells_dyn_ino by taking net->cells_lock exclusively. This also requires to cell to be removed from net->cells_dyn_ino in afs_destroy_cell_work() rather than in afs_cell_destroy() as the latter runs in RCU cleanup context and sleeping locks cannot be taken there.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72372?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72372?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-72372 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72372 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2026-72372, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72372, GHSA-4c5j-jgfr-26gp, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72372.