Improper resource shutdown or release in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-72179
Published: August 16, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU143408
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-2026-72179
CWE-ID: CWE-404
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 improper resource shutdown or release in populate_cache_leaves in arch/riscv/kernel/cacheinfo.c when traversing device tree cache nodes. A local user can trigger the vulnerable code path to cause a denial of service.
The issue results in a node reference leak when loop traversal ends naturally because the current node pointer becomes NULL.
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-2026-72179
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/2560c97f63bb99b26d9f19b23a4f66ea24c9dc14
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/36e4843fe39ea2f17f4de6d59fba26271916c184
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/51afb7da697b698996351740b4f39fb05ce2afd4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/880ac50b0bfae06d7ab5f1843253adfb86aa173a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf4a195f063b0a0805c1417f6aad1dd32ea48f0f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f322955d9a1c344ed943752f05aacea7bc22e025