What is CVE-2026-72220?

CVE-2026-72220 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 6.18 onward and patched in 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72220 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72220?

CVE-2026-72220 has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, rated Critical severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72220?

Yes, CVE-2026-72220 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 6.18 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-72220 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-72220 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-72220

Critical

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sunrpc: harden rq_procinfo lifecycle to prevent double-free The svc_release_rqst() function executes the callback inside rqstp->rq_procinfo->pc_release. However, if a worker thread begins processing a new request and encounters an early error path (e.g., unsupported protocol, short frame, or bad auth) before a valid rq_procinfo is installed, a stale release hook can be re-triggered against reused state from the previous RPC, resulting in a double-free or use-after-free vulnerability. Harden the lifecycle of rq_procinfo by: 1. Ensuring svc_release_rqst() always clears rq_procinfo after the optional pc_release() call, regardless of whether the hook exists. 2. Explicitly clearing rq_procinfo at request entry in svc_process() before any early decode or drop paths. 3. Ensuring svc_process_bc() does the same at backchannel entry. This guarantees that error flows will not encounter a non-NULL stale rq_procinfo pointer when there is nothing to release.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-17

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

9.8

out of 10

Critical

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

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

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 6.18 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.40, 7.1.5, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 6.18

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.40 6.18.x ✓ 7.1.5 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

3 total

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-72220

Severity Critical

CVSS score 9.8 / 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-2026-72220?

CVE-2026-72220 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.18 onward and has been patched in 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72220 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72220?

CVE-2026-72220 has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, rated Critical severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72220?

Yes. CVE-2026-72220 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.40, 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 6.18 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-72220 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-72220 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.