What is CVE-2026-72171?

CVE-2026-72171 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 2.6.12 onward and patched in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. CVE-2026-72171 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72171?

CVE-2026-72171 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72171?

Yes, CVE-2026-72171 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-72171 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-72171 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-72171

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mtd: slram: remove failed entries from the device list register_device() links a new slram_mtdlist entry before allocating all of the state needed by the entry. If a later allocation, memremap(), or mtd_device_register() fails, the partially initialized entry remains on the global list. A later cleanup can then dereference or free invalid state from that failed entry. Unwind the partially initialized entry and clear the list tail on each failure path after the entry has been linked.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-17

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

7.8

out of 10

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 2.6.12 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 2.6.12

Fixed in

✓ 5.10.261 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.212 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.178 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.145 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.97 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.40 6.18.x ✓ 7.1.5 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

8 total

Showing 5 of 8 references View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-72171

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-08-15

Modified 2026-08-17

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72171?

CVE-2026-72171 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 2.6.12 onward and has been patched in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. CVE-2026-72171 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72171?

CVE-2026-72171 has a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, rated High severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72171?

Yes. CVE-2026-72171 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 2.6.12 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-72171 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-72171 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.