Linux Kernel up to 6.12.96/6.18.39/7.1.4 dmaengine axi_dmac_free_desc allocation of resources

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.
7.8	$0-$5k	0.50-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.96/6.18.39/7.1.4. This issue affects the function axi_dmac_free_desc of the component dmaengine. The manipulation leads to allocation of resources. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-72474. The attack must be carried out locally. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.96/6.18.39/7.1.4 and classified as very critical. This issue affects the function axi_dmac_free_desc of the component dmaengine. 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 confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: dma-axi-dmac: use DMA pool to manange DMA descriptor For architectures like Microblaze or arm64 (where this IP is used), DMA_DIRECT_REMAP is set which means that dma_alloc_coherent() might remap (and hence vmalloc()) some memory. This became visible in a design where dma_direct_use_pool() is not possible. With the above, when calling dma_free_coherent(), vunmap() would be called from softirq context and thus leading to a BUG(). To fix it, use a dma pool that is allocated in .device_alloc_chan_resources() and allocate blocks from it. The key point is that now dma_pool_free() is used in axi_dmac_free_desc() to free the blocks and that just frees the blocks from the pool in the sense they can be used again. In other words, no actual call to dma_free_coherent() happens. That only happens when destroying the pool in axi_dmac_free_chan_resources() which does not happen in any interrupt context.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-72474 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Additional levels of successful authentication are necessary for exploitation. 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).

Upgrading to version 6.12.97, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch a4f41ceecfe68e117bae9c76c5ebc5e2b353fa56/c0e6bb2b0408fcac6382158ee2bd9fdc45eceee9/65e82fa24965b2eb6ad9412f6c530ed9a50a625f/9e942c8579130e62734c14338e9f451780669164 is able to eliminate this problem.

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

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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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• 6.12.91
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• 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
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• 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: 8.2
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.8

VulDB Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Temp Score: 7.8
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: Allocation of resources
CWE: CWE-770 / CWE-400 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

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 6.12.97/6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc1
Patch: a4f41ceecfe68e117bae9c76c5ebc5e2b353fa56/c0e6bb2b0408fcac6382158ee2bd9fdc45eceee9/65e82fa24965b2eb6ad9412f6c530ed9a50a625f/9e942c8579130e62734c14338e9f451780669164

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-2026-72474 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-72474
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390713

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 14:18
Changes: 08/15/2026 14:18 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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

Discussion

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