# CVE-2026-74482: mm/huge_memory: unlock i_mmap_rwsem before releasing after-split folios

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel's huge memory handling allows a local attacker to cause a system crash via race conditions during page splitting.

- **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:** AZL-96273, BELL-CVE-2026-74482, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-74482, GHSA-2666-8p4f-7r6x, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-74482

## What is CVE-2026-74482?

CVE-2026-74482 is a high-severity use after free 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/huge_memory: unlock i_mmap_rwsem before releasing after-split folios

__folio_split() keeps dereferencing the mapping after the split:
shmem_uncharge(mapping->host) and remap_page() while the folios are still
frozen/locked, and i_mmap_unlock_read(mapping) at the very end, after the
after-split folios have been unlocked and freed.

Nothing holds an inode reference across that.  The split relies on @folio
-- which the beyond-EOF drop loop never removes, as it starts at
folio_next(folio) -- staying locked and in the page cache to hold off
eviction.  But the unlock loop unlocks @folio before i_mmap_unlock_read()
runs.  If the caller's @lock_at is a tail beyond EOF, as memory_failure()
passes when splitting a poisoned tail of a shmem THP that reaches past
i_size during truncation, it too is gone from the page cache; so once
@folio is unlocked no locked, in-cache folio pins the inode, and a
concurrent final iput() can evict and RCU-free it before
i_mmap_unlock_read() touches i_mmap_rwsem:

  BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __up_read+0x634/0x790
   i_mmap_unlock_read include/linux/fs.h:537 [inline]
   __folio_split+0x732/0x1640 mm/huge_memory.c:4100
   try_to_split_thp_page+0xab/0x390 mm/memory-failure.c:1675
   memory_failure+0x1394/0x26e0 mm/memory-failure.c:2470

  Freed by task 4601:
   shmem_free_in_core_inode+0x54/0xb0 mm/shmem.c:5177
   evict+0x57f/0xac0 fs/inode.c:870

Do every mapping dereference while @folio still pins the inode: drop
i_mmap_rwsem right after remap_page(), before the loop that unlocks and
frees the after-split folios, and clear @mapping so the exit path does not
unlock it again.  shmem_uncharge() and remap_page() already run before
that point, so after this nothing past the unlock loop touches the inode
or the mapping.

This is now a rule the split depends on, alongside keeping @folio frozen
until the page cache is updated: no inode or mapping dereference once the
after-split folios start being unlocked.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-74482?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-74482?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-74482 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-74482 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-74482 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-74482 is a high-severity use after free 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-2026-74482 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-2026-74482/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74482/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74482
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74482
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74482

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-74482/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.