Memory leak in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-72266
Published: August 16, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU143171
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 4.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-72266
CWE-ID: CWE-401
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to a memory leak in vesafb_probe() in the vesafb driver when probing the device and processing framebuffer options. A local user can trigger the vulnerable code path to cause a denial of service.
Affected software
Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
Ubuntu
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-72266
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4, 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4, 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1, 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1
External References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/124df55c7201d011a3fead2205685b6c47eae093
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/43af398217ca8940bf30643fd1150b4c655b8a88
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/58bc18e03481b62f0ec53fe47f36615d52660a7d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7b96ce9f8e47538c3c6eebbb217c94d696975cac
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b15d708995c01bbffe7dcd634a31959f6805bed3