Linux Kernel up to 6.6.159/6.12.112/6.18.56/7.2.10 fs clear_inode 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.
5.1	$0-$5k	0.83-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as problematic has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.159/6.12.112/6.18.56/7.2.10. This vulnerability affects the function clear_inode of the component fs. Such manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-99080. The attack needs to be performed locally. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.6.159/6.12.112/6.18.56/7.2.10. Affected by this issue is the function clear_inode of the component fs. 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 confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fs: Free any excess xarray nodes in clear_inode() For many years we've had a hard to hit leak of xarray nodes. Hugh documented it well in commit 786b31121a2c. Recently people and syzbot have found ways to force it to happen with madvise. Rather than fix the leaks where they happen, just call xa_destroy() which has the side-effect of cycling the i_pages lock.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-99080 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 6.6.160, 6.12.113, 6.18.57 or 7.2.11 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f1c966eb6ed5e190c90a56c5bdaa69967de39f21/21f51434c47d8628b62275ae6c6ad6b573abcd02/50cff3f112d64db6e5f57355f79bc837db8fe132/43f830e2bb84b22ca824b20bb861d823ecb520bd/ee3f011250104129893d8e9599147e457d4d7280 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.6.159
• 6.12.112
• 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
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 6.18.54
• 6.18.55
• 6.18.56
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.2.10

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: 5.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.1

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.1
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: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

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 6.6.160/6.12.113/6.18.57/7.2.11
Patch: f1c966eb6ed5e190c90a56c5bdaa69967de39f21/21f51434c47d8628b62275ae6c6ad6b573abcd02/50cff3f112d64db6e5f57355f79bc837db8fe132/43f830e2bb84b22ca824b20bb861d823ecb520bd/ee3f011250104129893d8e9599147e457d4d7280

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/23/2026 +28 days Advisory disclosed
10/23/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/23/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-99080 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-99080
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-425846

Entryinfo

Created: 10/23/2026 15:40
Changes: 10/23/2026 15:40 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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