Local service interruption via probe-path memory leak
Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026
Memory leak in the Linux kernel metronomefb driver allows local users to interrupt service during failed device probing. On an error after fb_deferred_io_init allocates pagerefs, metronomefb_probe returns without calling fb_deferred_io_cleanup, leaving the allocation unreleased. Exploitation requires low-privilege local access and a high-complexity probe failure path; impact is limited to availability through kernel-memory exhaustion.
Summary
What happened
Memory leak in the Linux kernel metronomefb driver allows local users to interrupt service during failed device probing. On an error after fb_deferred_io_init allocates pagerefs, metronomefb_probe returns without calling fb_deferred_io_cleanup, leaving the allocation unreleased. Exploitation requires low-privilege local access and a high-complexity probe failure path; impact is limited to availability through kernel-memory exhaustion.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-72276
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- 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?
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- Affected versionversion=186b89659c4c67cccead52961eab0ca3b23951dc <77e26383083c59a67244fcf2e70eecd354451906
- Affected versionversion=5.15.149 <5.15.212
- Affected versionversion=5.19
- Affected versionversion=56c134f7f1b58be08bdb0ca8372474a4a5165f31 <01708cf3dca2f88eca26269521cbcc8e2f054ee4
- Affected versionversion=56c134f7f1b58be08bdb0ca8372474a4a5165f31 <6854cf33dddb212bd7c3d69189623876e7334075
- Affected versionversion=56c134f7f1b58be08bdb0ca8372474a4a5165f31 <894632b862a39b3fe1cb5de06fbae86225ea64de
- Affected versionversion=56c134f7f1b58be08bdb0ca8372474a4a5165f31 <a889978ec44fe33edb3fb7140dcbbb8e6465c1cb
- Affected versionversion=56c134f7f1b58be08bdb0ca8372474a4a5165f31 <d54bb39cd34f44b32d5c4a8416fff8b01a9e76be
- Affected versionversion=56c134f7f1b58be08bdb0ca8372474a4a5165f31 <f779bd494f9521f89bfd4ce23953f3527341e9fd
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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