CVE-2026-72316
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm era: fix NULL pointer dereference in metadata_open() metadata_open() returns NULL when kzalloc_obj() fails, but the caller era_ctr() only checks IS_ERR(md). Since IS_ERR(NULL) returns false, the NULL pointer is treated as a valid result and later assigned to era->md, leading to a NULL pointer dereference when the metadata is accessed. Fix this by returning ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) on allocation failure, consistent with dm-cache-metadata.c, dm-thin-metadata.c, and dm-clone-metadata.c which all use ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) for the same pattern.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
3.15
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-rc3
and their respective stable series.
References
8 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-72316?
CVE-2026-72316 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 3.15 onward and has been patched in 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. CVE-2026-72316 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72316?
Yes. CVE-2026-72316 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.15 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-72316 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-72316 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.