Linux Kernel up to 6.12.96/6.18.39/7.1.4 DAMON mm/damon/core.c damon_commit_target allocation of resources

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4.2	$0-$5k	0.48

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.96/6.18.39/7.1.4. It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function damon_commit_target of the file mm/damon/core.c of the component DAMON. Such manipulation leads to allocation of resources. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-72178. The attack needs to be performed locally. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.96/6.18.39/7.1.4. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function damon_commit_target of the file mm/damon/core.c of the component DAMON. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a allocation of resources vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-770. The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor. Impacted is availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/damon/core: always put unsuccessfully committed target pids damon_commit_target() puts and gets the destination and the source target pids. It puts the destination target pid because it will be overwritten by the source target pid. It gets the source pid because the caller is supposed to eventually put the pids. In more detail, the caller will call damon_destroy_ctx() after damon_commit_ctx() to destroy the entire source context. And in this case, [f]vaddr operation set's cleanup_target() callback will put the pids. The commit operation is made at the context level. The operation can fail in multiple places including in the middle and after the targets commit operations. For any such failures, immediately the error is returned to the damon_commit_ctx() caller. If some or all of the source target pids were committed to the destination during the unsuccessful context commit attempt, those pids should be put twice. The source context will do the put operations using the above explained routine. However, let's suppose the destination context was not originally using [f]vaddr operation set and the commit failed before the ops of the source context is committed. The destination does not have the cleanup_target() ops callback, so it cannot put the pids via the damon_destroy_ctx(). As a result, the pids are leaked. The issue in the real world would be not very common. The commit feature is for changing parameters of running DAMON context while inheriting internal status like the monitoring results. The monitoring results of a physical address range ain't have things that are beneficial to be inherited to a virtual address ranges monitoring. So the problem-causing DAMON control would be not very common in the real world. That said, it is a supported feature. And damon_commit_target() failure due to memory allocation is relatively realistic [1] if there are a huge number of target regions. Fix by putting the pids in the commit operation in case of the failures. The issue was discovered [2] by Sashiko.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-72178 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack needs to be approached locally. The exploitation needs additional levels of successful authentication. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch ea07e045611ca00f1ec7e448fd43e655d311158b/3b91c35961fa5553b4dd36db1f06e3b4acbfc05d/837f619f1d98e967bd63e51ecd1e77bfa468992d/6a66c557a2ab2609575bafd15e093669c05f9711 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.0
• 6.12.1
• 6.12.2
• 6.12.3
• 6.12.4
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• 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
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• 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

• 🔒
• 🔒
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CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
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CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.2

VulDB Base Score: 4.4
VulDB Temp Score: 4.2
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Allocation of resources
CWE: CWE-770 / CWE-400 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

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

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.12.97/6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: ea07e045611ca00f1ec7e448fd43e655d311158b/3b91c35961fa5553b4dd36db1f06e3b4acbfc05d/837f619f1d98e967bd63e51ecd1e77bfa468992d/6a66c557a2ab2609575bafd15e093669c05f9711

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-2026-72178 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-72178
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390536

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 12:30
Changes: 08/15/2026 12:30 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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