Kernel memory leak via unreleased dentry folio
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
A folio reference leak in the f2fs directory lookup path in Linux allows attackers to consume kernel memory through lookup errors. find_in_level() obtains a dentry folio before calling find_in_block() but fails to release it when that call returns an error. Reachability requires an f2fs directory lookup that drives find_in_block() into its error path; the published record establishes neither remote reachability nor an impact beyond leaked kernel memory.
Summary
What happened
A folio reference leak in the f2fs directory lookup path in Linux allows attackers to consume kernel memory through lookup errors. find_in_level() obtains a dentry folio before calling find_in_block() but fails to release it when that call returns an error. Reachability requires an f2fs directory lookup that drives find_in_block() into its error path; the published record establishes neither remote reachability nor an impact beyond leaked kernel memory.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-89837
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 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=5.11
- Affected versionversion=7ad08a58bf67594057362e45cbddd3e27e53e557 <93a3e6a4c9e726a13a935963e8dc43d181db1527
- Affected versionversion=7ad08a58bf67594057362e45cbddd3e27e53e557 <aefb4b0f465b6f95fe02b52d1822a3fb4a9ae922
- Affected versionversion=7ad08a58bf67594057362e45cbddd3e27e53e557 <cca7d3e30bf30333314e31bc70b9a739f1342167
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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
No sourced classifications are available.
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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