CVE-2026-72166

Local denial of service via fatal-signal retry loop

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026

Denial of service in Linux before 7.2 allows local users to hang coredump processing by signaling a blocked 9p client RPC. In p9_client_rpc, the P9_TFLUSH retry path clears TIF_SIGPENDING before waiting again, so a pending fatal signal is lost and the task repeatedly sleeps. The condition requires a 9p fd transport with no peer and a fatal signal; affected stable kernels can instead leave a zombie process and delay shutdown.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.21%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in Linux before 7.2 allows local users to hang coredump processing by signaling a blocked 9p client RPC. In p9_client_rpc, the P9_TFLUSH retry path clears TIF_SIGPENDING before waiting again, so a pending fatal signal is lost and the task repeatedly sleeps. The condition requires a 9p fd transport with no peer and a fatal signal; affected stable kernels can instead leave a zombie process and delay shutdown.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-72166
Published
Aug 15, 2026
Updated
Aug 15, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-835, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 15, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=2.6.28
  2. Affected versionversion=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <378481cc60a937ef8ea4ef6e4f95f0dbc4e21414
  3. Affected versionversion=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <4f621ae3a2d99b0bac50e8d66cbf7f68323c01e8
  4. Affected versionversion=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <6b4f48728faa8bb514368f7eacda05565dea8696
  5. Affected versionversion=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <823886a1b089b49bcd349bc8bd3417b7910cd1ac
  6. Affected versionversion=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <a8874c34c4a973f9922908a4b8be1d1278f01e42
  7. Affected versionversion=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <dc892cbb1e4341d427b1f940ebd6abd69bf8e479
  8. Affected versionversion=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <f62a1f245a71680033260a6f6d74011cc3acb3cd

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=2.6.28; version=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <378481cc60a937ef8ea4ef6e4f95f0dbc4e21414; version=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <4f621ae3a2d99b0bac50e8d66cbf7f68323c01e8; version=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <6b4f48728faa8bb514368f7eacda05565dea8696; version=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <823886a1b089b49bcd349bc8bd3417b7910cd1ac; version=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <a8874c34c4a973f9922908a4b8be1d1278f01e42; version=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <dc892cbb1e4341d427b1f940ebd6abd69bf8e479; version=91b8534fa8f5e01f249b1bf8df0a2540053549ad <f62a1f245a71680033260a6f6d74011cc3acb3cd

Published CVSS scores

5.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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