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Linux Kernel CVE-2026-72103

| EUVDEUVD-2026-59061 HIGH
2026-08-15 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 GHSA-mq86-3x2m-mwpc
7.3
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
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Severity by source

Vendor (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67) PRIMARY
7.3 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
vuln.today AI
6.3 MEDIUM

CAP_SYS_ADMIN explicitly required per description warrants PR:H; AV:L because memory extraction requires local or physical access; C:H/I:H for full volume key recovery.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
4.2 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Red Hat
5.5 MEDIUM
qualitative

Primary rating from Vendor (416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67).

CVSS VectorVendor: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

Lifecycle Timeline

5
Analysis Generated
Aug 17, 2026 - 06:49 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Aug 17, 2026 - 06:22 NVD
7.3 (HIGH)
Patch available
Aug 15, 2026 - 07:20 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 06:21 cve.org
HIGH 7.3
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 06:21 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

dm: avoid leaking the caller's thread keyring via the table device file

The refactoring in commit a28d893eb327 ("md: port block device access to file") accidentally causes the caller's thread keyring to be kept alive long beyond the caller's lifetime.

As a result, "cryptsetup luksSuspend" silently fails to wipe the LUKS volume key from memory.

In detail: "cryptsetup luksOpen" uses its supposedly ephemeral thread keyring to pass the volume key to the kernel. dm-crypt's crypt_set_keyring_key() copies the key material into its own crypt_config structure and then drops its own reference to the key in the keyring with key_put().

With this fix, restoring pre-v6.9 behavior, the copy in the thread keyring is then promptly garbage collected, such that exactly one copy of the volume key remains. This single copy is correctly wiped from memory on "cryptsetup luksSuspend".

Without this fix, the thread keyring and the volume key in it remains. This second copy is only freed on "luksClose". "luksSuspend" neither knows about this copy nor has any way to remove it, so the key remains recoverable from RAM after a suspend that is documented to have wiped it.

This fix should not introduce new security problems, as the code is anyway gated by CAP_SYS_ADMIN. The device-mapper core, not the calling task, is the legitimate owner of this long-lived file.

AnalysisAI

The Linux kernel dm (device-mapper) subsystem, from version 6.9 onward, leaks the calling process's thread keyring by retaining a reference to the table device file beyond the caller's lifetime, causing LUKS volume keys to silently persist in RAM after cryptsetup luksSuspend. This regression, introduced by commit a28d893eb327, breaks a documented security guarantee: luksSuspend is expected to wipe the volume key from memory, but an unpatched kernel leaves a second copy in the retained thread keyring recoverable until luksClose. Any adversary capable of reading kernel memory - via physical access, cold boot attack, or a separate memory disclosure exploit - can extract the LUKS volume key and decrypt the protected volume. No public exploit is identified, and EPSS of 0.21% (11th percentile) reflects limited automated exploitation probability.

Technical ContextAI

The Linux kernel's device-mapper (dm) subsystem provides virtual block device infrastructure, including dm-crypt for transparent disk encryption. Thread keyrings are per-thread secure key stores in the Linux keyring subsystem, designed to hold sensitive material transiently. During cryptsetup luksOpen, the calling process uses an ephemeral thread keyring to pass the LUKS volume key to the kernel; dm-crypt's crypt_set_keyring_key() copies the key into its long-lived crypt_config structure and calls key_put() to release the thread keyring reference, triggering garbage collection of the transient copy. The refactoring introduced in commit a28d893eb327 ('md: port block device access to file', Linux 6.9) caused the device-mapper core to hold a long-lived file reference to the table device that inadvertently keeps the caller's thread keyring alive, preventing garbage collection. The result is two copies of the volume key: one in crypt_config (correctly wiped on luksSuspend) and one in the orphaned thread keyring (freed only on luksClose). This is a resource lifetime management defect - no CWE has been assigned, but it most closely matches CWE-404 (Improper Resource Shutdown or Release) combined with CWE-316 (Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in Memory).

RemediationAI

Upgrade to a patched Linux kernel version: 6.12.101, 6.18.42, 7.1.5, or 7.2-rc3 or later, using the stable-tree commits listed at the kernel stable git repository references above. Distribution maintainers should check whether their shipped kernel version falls in the 6.9-unpatched range and apply the relevant backport commit. For systems that cannot be immediately patched, the most actionable compensating control is to cease relying on luksSuspend as a security boundary: treat any suspend-to-RAM operation on an affected kernel as if the LUKS volume key remains in memory, and apply equivalent physical security controls (locked screen, physical tamper protection, avoid leaving the machine unattended during suspend). Additionally, disabling suspend-to-RAM entirely (using systemctl mask suspend.target) removes the attack surface if availability of the sleep state can be traded for key confidentiality. Note that neither workaround repairs the underlying defect - they only change operational posture. The NVD advisory is available at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72103.

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Affected

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CVE-2026-72103 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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