Host crash via stale hugetlb cache list
Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026
Race condition in the Linux kernel 5.10 and later allows local users to crash the host through concurrent shared hugetlbfs mappings. In mm/hugetlb.c, allocate_file_region_entries() uses list_splice() without reinitializing its stack-local source head, so a retry adds through a stale pointer and corrupts the reservation cache. Triggering the retry requires concurrent region operations on one shared resv_map; debug builds panic immediately, while other builds retain a kernel-stack pointer that later becomes a use-after-free.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in the Linux kernel 5.10 and later allows local users to crash the host through concurrent shared hugetlbfs mappings. In mm/hugetlb.c, allocate_file_region_entries() uses list_splice() without reinitializing its stack-local source head, so a retry adds through a stale pointer and corrupts the reservation cache. Triggering the retry requires concurrent region operations on one shared resv_map; debug builds panic immediately, while other builds retain a kernel-stack pointer that later becomes a use-after-free.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-74518
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-367, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.10
- Affected versionversion=d3ec7b6e09e512ba902b86bcca2c512fb06d492f <126a70bf1a08ddc9d79c471ebdaa2b08cfbab8df
- Affected versionversion=d3ec7b6e09e512ba902b86bcca2c512fb06d492f <587a0accc2b4fccc5cf7baf0fe34e50efde51f9c
- Affected versionversion=d3ec7b6e09e512ba902b86bcca2c512fb06d492f <62e1c2741a4d923d9854efd5927a6212aad7a187
- Affected versionversion=d3ec7b6e09e512ba902b86bcca2c512fb06d492f <ac1bb7fd45088d0db57a22ce7729f258ebd63cf5
- Affected versionversion=d3ec7b6e09e512ba902b86bcca2c512fb06d492f <dd9623f58ec702a07b2d67179d6fcea79c52231a
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Your stack
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