Stack-based buffer overflow in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-72066

Vulnerability identifier: #VU143523

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 6.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-72066

CWE-ID: CWE-121

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.

The vulnerability exists due to a stack-based buffer overflow in states_show() in kernel/cpu.c when generating sysfs output for CPU hotplug states. A local user can read the affected sysfs entry to cause a denial of service.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 5.15.0-1112.113, 5.15.0.1112.112
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

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2408be459c70ef4250da1a9e50f5478e6b250d61
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/61a73a123ac7a7fbc57382531f8cb7092d569aba
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/631d53102da9f469c96b882b770336bec095b833
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6cb15b81ff545840048fb0e1a6e827d560dbf367
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86f436567f2516a0083b210bedc933544826a2c3
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/998f66e9ce320f3433f60b948e3698b744754a46
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/de4d3d8ae17dc8b4cf8c59436c4b7e2dc2491635

• Stack-based buffer overflow in Linux kernel states_show() in kernel/cpu.c
• Ubuntu update for linux-gcp-7.0
• Ubuntu update for linux-nvidia
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure-7.0