What is CVE-2026-72172?

CVE-2026-72172 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 5.19 onward and patched in 6.1.184, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. CVE-2026-72172 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72172?

CVE-2026-72172 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-2026-72172?

Yes, CVE-2026-72172 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.184, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.19 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-72172 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-72172 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-72172

High

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mm_init: fix uninitialized struct pages for ZONE_DEVICE If DAX memory is hotplugged into an unoccupied subsection of an early section, section_activate() reuses the unoptimized boot memmap. However, compound_nr_pages() still assumes that vmemmap optimization is in effect and initializes only the reduced number of struct pages. As a result, the remaining tail struct pages are left uninitialized, which can later lead to unexpected behavior or crashes. Fix this by treating early sections as unoptimized when calculating how many struct pages to initialize.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-23

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 5.19 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.184, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 5.19

Fixed in

✓ 6.1.184 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

6 total

Showing 5 of 6 references View all on NVD

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-72172

Severity High

CVSS score 7.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-08-15

Modified 2026-08-23

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72172?

CVE-2026-72172 is a High severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.19 onward and has been patched in 6.1.184, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. CVE-2026-72172 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72172?

CVE-2026-72172 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-2026-72172?

Yes. CVE-2026-72172 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.184, 6.6.145, 6.12.97 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.19 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-72172 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-72172 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.