# CVE-2026-72375: afs: Fix reinitialisation of the inode, in particular ->lock_work

> A race condition in the Linux kernel AFS filesystem can cause a kernel warning and potential instability during inode reinitialization.

- **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:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72375, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72375, GHSA-fpj5-fm3g-5rvj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72375

## What is CVE-2026-72375?

CVE-2026-72375 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 reinitialisation of the inode, in particular ->lock_work

It seems that initalising afs_vnode::lock_work a single time in the slab's
init function isn't sufficient for work_structs.  This results in the
DEBUG_OBJECTS debugging stuff producing a warning occasionally when running
the generic/131 xfstest:

 ODEBUG: activate not available (active state 0) object: 0000000016d8760f object type: work_struct hint: afs_lock_work+0x0/0x220
 WARNING: lib/debugobjects.c:629 at debug_print_object+0x4b/0x90, CPU#3: locktest/7695
 ...
 CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 7695 Comm: locktest Tainted: G S                  7.1.0-build3+ #2771 PREEMPT
 ...
 RIP: 0010:debug_print_object+0x65/0x90
 ...
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  ? __pfx_afs_lock_work+0x10/0x10
  debug_object_activate+0x122/0x170
  insert_work+0x25/0x60
  __queue_work+0x2e0/0x340
  queue_delayed_work_on+0x48/0x70
  afs_fl_release_private+0x57/0x70
  locks_release_private+0x5c/0xa0
  locks_free_lock+0xe/0x20
  posix_lock_inode+0x55f/0x5b0
  locks_lock_inode_wait+0x81/0x140
  ? file_write_and_wait_range+0x50/0x70
  afs_lock+0xcd/0x110
  fcntl_setlk+0x10d/0x260
  do_fcntl+0x24e/0x5b0
  __do_sys_fcntl+0x6a/0x90
  do_syscall_64+0x11e/0x310
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x71/0x79

Fix this by reinitialising ->lock_work after allocating an inode.

Also, flush ->lock_work when the inode is being evicted to make sure it's
not still running.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72375?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72375?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72375 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72375 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72375 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72375 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-2026-72375 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-2026-72375/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72375/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72375
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72375
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72375

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72375/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.