Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3 raid5 retry_aligned_read infinite loop

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3. It has been rated as critical. This impacts the function retry_aligned_read of the component raid5. This manipulation causes infinite loop. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-46051. There is not any exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.139/6.12.85/6.18.26/7.0.3 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function retry_aligned_read of the component raid5. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a infinite loop vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-835. The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md/raid5: fix soft lockup in retry_aligned_read() When retry_aligned_read() encounters an overlapped stripe, it releases the stripe via raid5_release_stripe() which puts it on the lockless released_stripes llist. In the next raid5d loop iteration, release_stripe_list() drains the stripe onto handle_list (since STRIPE_HANDLE is set by the original IO), but retry_aligned_read() runs before handle_active_stripes() and removes the stripe from handle_list via find_get_stripe() -> list_del_init(). This prevents handle_stripe() from ever processing the stripe to resolve the overlap, causing an infinite loop and soft lockup. Fix this by using __release_stripe() with temp_inactive_list instead of raid5_release_stripe() in the failure path, so the stripe does not go through the released_stripes llist. This allows raid5d to break out of its loop, and the overlap will be resolved when the stripe is eventually processed by handle_stripe().

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-46051 since 05/13/2026. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.6.140, 6.12.86, 6.18.27, 7.0.4 or 7.1-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 09880592f5a9dc73377d6eb5ac123537b5f8df49/80fc6ca2cbde018d52e13f305edcd643911bd94b/1985cb3247e87ff6b8ca4bc5f9626f4f51024507/883cc33b7af1c448663287f069ef9dfea001e90f/7f9f7c697474268d9ef9479df3ddfe7cdcfbbffc 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

• 6.6.139
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
• 6.12.7
• 6.12.8
• 6.12.9
• 6.12.10
• 6.12.11
• 6.12.12
• 6.12.13
• 6.12.14
• 6.12.15
• 6.12.16
• 6.12.17
• 6.12.18
• 6.12.19
• 6.12.20
• 6.12.21
• 6.12.22
• 6.12.23
• 6.12.24
• 6.12.25
• 6.12.26
• 6.12.27
• 6.12.28
• 6.12.29
• 6.12.30
• 6.12.31
• 6.12.32
• 6.12.33
• 6.12.34
• 6.12.35
• 6.12.36
• 6.12.37
• 6.12.38
• 6.12.39
• 6.12.40
• 6.12.41
• 6.12.42
• 6.12.43
• 6.12.44
• 6.12.45
• 6.12.46
• 6.12.47
• 6.12.48
• 6.12.49
• 6.12.50
• 6.12.51
• 6.12.52
• 6.12.53
• 6.12.54
• 6.12.55
• 6.12.56
• 6.12.57
• 6.12.58
• 6.12.59
• 6.12.60
• 6.12.61
• 6.12.62
• 6.12.63
• 6.12.64
• 6.12.65
• 6.12.66
• 6.12.67
• 6.12.68
• 6.12.69
• 6.12.70
• 6.12.71
• 6.12.72
• 6.12.73
• 6.12.74
• 6.12.75
• 6.12.76
• 6.12.77
• 6.12.78
• 6.12.79
• 6.12.80
• 6.12.81
• 6.12.82
• 6.12.83
• 6.12.84
• 6.12.85
• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 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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