Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 nvdimm/btt drivers/nvdimm/btt.c discover_arenas memory leak

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.2	$0-$5k	0.47+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4. This affects the function discover_arenas of the file drivers/nvdimm/btt.c of the component nvdimm/btt. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-72223. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 7.1.4 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function discover_arenas of the file drivers/nvdimm/btt.c of the component nvdimm/btt. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvdimm/btt: Free arena sub-allocations on discover_arenas() error path Memory allocated by btt_freelist_init(), btt_rtt_init(), and btt_maplocks_init() is not freed on some discover_arenas() error paths. This leaks memory when arena discovery fails. Add the missing kfree() calls to release the allocations before returning an error. [ as: commit message and log edits ]

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-72223 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 5.10.261, 5.15.212, 6.1.178, 6.6.145, 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2d0364937550a7b3e2592629c2a68753ac020b28/eeb95774bc79268e2b78ebf01d8781560b5bd671/7563f69caa9143a491d5f26e563255c734751545/0b0d9404951aacc9717aa61e77af4a6e9e8f8249/873ced7f345e99f7ee16f9ff226515580332ecc4/30d490bb2c4cd220e7dedf862ab6a09eb5dcbad5/ba59b96d8d21dc8729fca44a022ca5919c1848c9/13fe4cd9ddd0aacb7777812328be525a11ea3fea is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.10.260
• 5.15.211
• 6.1.177
• 6.6.144
• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
• 6.12.5
• 6.12.6
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• 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
• 6.12.86
• 6.12.87
• 6.12.88
• 6.12.89
• 6.12.90
• 6.12.91
• 6.12.92
• 6.12.93
• 6.12.94
• 6.12.95
• 6.12.96
• 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
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.2

VulDB Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Temp Score: 6.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory leak
CWE: CWE-401 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 5.10.261/5.15.212/6.1.178/6.6.145/6.12.97/6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: 2d0364937550a7b3e2592629c2a68753ac020b28/eeb95774bc79268e2b78ebf01d8781560b5bd671/7563f69caa9143a491d5f26e563255c734751545/0b0d9404951aacc9717aa61e77af4a6e9e8f8249/873ced7f345e99f7ee16f9ff226515580332ecc4/30d490bb2c4cd220e7dedf862ab6a09eb5dcbad5/ba59b96d8d21dc8729fca44a022ca5919c1848c9/13fe4cd9ddd0aacb7777812328be525a11ea3fea

Timelineinfo

08/09/2026 CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-72223 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-72223
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390497

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 11:56
Changes: 08/15/2026 11:56 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion

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