Linux Kernel up to 7.0.3 damos_walk deadlock

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.3. This affects the function damos_walk. This manipulation causes deadlock. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-46008. There is no available exploit. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.0.3. It has been declared as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function damos_walk. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a deadlock vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-833. The product contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/damon/core: fix damos_walk() vs kdamond_fn() exit race When kdamond_fn() main loop is finished, the function cancels remaining damos_walk() request and unset the damon_ctx->kdamond so that API callers and API functions themselves can show the context is terminated. damos_walk() adds the caller's request to the queue first. After that, it shows if the kdamond of the damon_ctx is still running (damon_ctx->kdamond is set). Only if the kdamond is running, damos_walk() starts waiting for the kdamond's handling of the newly added request. The damos_walk() requests registration and damon_ctx->kdamond unset are protected by different mutexes, though. Hence, damos_walk() could race with damon_ctx->kdamond unset, and result in deadlocks. For example, let's suppose kdamond successfully finished the damow_walk() request cancelling. Right after that, damos_walk() is called for the context. It registers the new request, and shows the context is still running, because damon_ctx->kdamond unset is not yet done. Hence the damos_walk() caller starts waiting for the handling of the request. However, the kdamond is already on the termination steps, so it never handles the new request. As a result, the damos_walk() caller thread infinitely waits. Fix this by introducing another damon_ctx field, namely walk_control_obsolete. It is protected by the damon_ctx->walk_control_lock, which protects damos_walk() request registration. Initialize (unset) it in kdamond_fn() before letting damon_start() returns and set it just before the cancelling of the remaining damos_walk() request is executed. damos_walk() reads the obsolete field under the lock and avoids adding a new request. After this change, only requests that are guaranteed to be handled or cancelled are registered. Hence the after-registration DAMON context termination check is no longer needed. Remove it together. The issue is found by sashiko [1].

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-46008 since 05/13/2026. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 7.0.4 or 7.1-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0ba956a239ba6e3fae8555d3660e22e675be63b5/33c3f6c2b48cd84b441dba1ee3e62290e53930f4 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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