Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5 x86 mm pat /mm/pat cpa_collapse_large_pages use after free

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.
8.7	$5k-$25k	0.38

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5. Affected by this issue is the function cpa_collapse_large_pages of the file /mm/pat of the component x86 mm pat. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-93066. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.51/7.2.5. It has been rated as very critical. This issue affects the function cpa_collapse_large_pages of the file /mm/pat of the component x86 mm pat. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/mm/pat: Take cpa_lock around large-page collapse Loading and unloading modules concurrently on several CPUs on a KASAN build, with a short delay injected at the CPA page-table lookup to widen the window, faults within minutes: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in __change_page_attr+0x7cc/0x7e0 Write of size 8 at addr ffff888181139718 by task modprobe ... The buggy address belongs to the physical page: pfn:0x181139 ... page_type: f2(table) cpa_collapse_large_pages() rebuilds a leaf PMD from its 4K PTEs and frees the old PTE-table pages, while __change_page_attr() fetches a PTE pointer from a lockless lookup_address_in_pgd_attr() and writes it with set_pte_atomic() only later. When module text is served from a shared large ROX mapping the two run on the same PMD: CPU A (module load) CPU B (module finalize) ------------------- ----------------------- execmem_make_temp_rw set_memory_nx __change_page_attr split 2M -> 4K table P kpte = &P[i] (lockless) execmem_restore_rox set_memory_rox (CPA_COLLAPSE) cpa_collapse_large_pages rebuild leaf PMD flush_tlb_all pagetable_free(P) set_pte_atomic(kpte, ...) -> writes into freed P P is a page-table page (page_type: table), reused at once, so the write corrupts whatever got the page next: a bad-pte or bad-page splat, or a fatal fault once P has been turned into read-only text. The flush_tlb_all() before the free does not close this: its IPI only serializes against page-table walkers that run with interrupts off (e.g. GUP-fast); the walk in __change_page_attr() runs with interrupts on, so nothing stops it from holding a stale pointer into P. Serialize the collapse - the PMD rebuild, TLB flush and PTE-table free - under cpa_lock, the same lock __change_page_attr() now takes unconditionally since commit ("x86/mm/pat: stop gating cpa_lock on debug_pagealloc_enabled()"), so a concurrent walker can no longer hold a pointer into a table the collapse is about to free.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-93066 since 09/17/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are required for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/17/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.52, 7.2.6 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 591b6fac9df3f43522e8ff6eed8662f8b6f1a124/fb97d1d6c20692e15247fa5c8b894b2325e38aee/1aac65f3e651334259ecb2a5f5ddb81c01f02599 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 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
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5

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: 9.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.7

VulDB Base Score: 9.1
VulDB Temp Score: 8.7
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: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
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 6.18.52/7.2.6/7.3-rc1
Patch: 591b6fac9df3f43522e8ff6eed8662f8b6f1a124/fb97d1d6c20692e15247fa5c8b894b2325e38aee/1aac65f3e651334259ecb2a5f5ddb81c01f02599

Timelineinfo

09/17/2026 Advisory disclosed
09/17/2026 +0 days CVE reserved
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/17/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-93066 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-93066
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-407177

Entryinfo

Created: 09/17/2026 23:37
Changes: 09/17/2026 23:37 (60)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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

Discussion

Do you need the next level of professionalism?

Upgrade your account now!