Linux Kernel up to 6.18.44/7.1.8 ptdump mm/ptdump.c ptdump_walk_pgd race condition

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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9.5$0-$5k0.86-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.44/7.1.8. The impacted element is the function ptdump_walk_pgd of the file mm/ptdump.c of the component ptdump. The manipulation results in race condition. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-74599. The attack may be performed from remote. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.44/7.1.8. It has been classified as very critical. Affected is the function ptdump_walk_pgd of the file mm/ptdump.c of the component ptdump. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a race condition vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-362. The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/ptdump: always stabilise against page table freeing using init_mm Previous commits have established the invariant that kernel page table freeing is performed while an mmap read lock on init_mm is held, which fixes races between ptdump and kernel page table freeing over init_mm. However, x86 and arm64 can perform a ptdump over an mm other than init_mm via ptdump_walk_pgd() and since kernel memory ranges are shared across non-kernel mm's, this means that the race still exists for these cases. Fix this by acquiring a nested mmap write lock for init_mm in ptdump_walk_pgd(). This is safe as we take this after mmap write locking the mm, and nothing acquires the init_mm lock first before locking an arbitrary mm, so no deadlock is possible. Also update walk_page_range_debug() to assert that init_mm is write locked, add a comment explaining why and remove some redundant code, and eliminate the unnecessary and confusing invocation of walk_kernel_page_table_range(). We can safely remove the non-NULL check for walk.mm, as the mmap lock asserts would NULL pointer deref if it was (and of course no callers do this). The first point at which ptdump can race kernel page table freeing is commit b6bdb7517c3d ("mm/vmalloc: add interfaces to free unmapped page table"), so we target this in the Fixes tag.

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-74599 since 08/15/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 08/22/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.45 or 7.1.9 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 7f740664aec1f832953c2e6d9b8920cd6c8bcc0c/4adc4c9a9a43d61fe476dfe10811f3df2e7e4106/27c32e5538344b13c1505a08861e04620c125d47 is able to eliminate this problem.

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

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Version

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Race condition
CWE: CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

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 6.18.45/7.1.9
Patch: 7f740664aec1f832953c2e6d9b8920cd6c8bcc0c/4adc4c9a9a43d61fe476dfe10811f3df2e7e4106/27c32e5538344b13c1505a08861e04620c125d47

Timelineinfo

08/15/2026 CVE reserved
08/22/2026 +7 days Advisory disclosed
08/22/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/22/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-74599 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-74599
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-394368

Entryinfo

Created: 08/22/2026 17:52
Changes: 08/22/2026 17:52 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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