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Linux Kernel EUVDEUVD-2026-59339

| CVE-2026-72440 HIGH
2026-08-15 Linux GHSA-jh9h-wfxq-pfm4
7.1
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Write to md/raid1-backed filesystem
  2. Delivery
    Induce write failure in kernel raid1 path
  3. Exploit
    raid1_write_request() returns without md_write_end()
  4. Execution
    writes_pending or barrier reference permanently leaked
  5. Persist
    Repeat under sustained I/O load
  6. Impact
    Reference exhaustion causes system hang or crash

Vulnerability Assessment

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the target system to be running a Linux kernel from version 5.17 up to but not including 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1, AND to have one or more md/raid1 (software RAID-1) arrays actively configured and receiving write I/O. The vulnerability is triggered only when specific failure paths within raid1_write_request() are reached - concretely, when write requests fail before reaching normal write completion, or when wait_blocked_rdev() fails after wait_barrier() has already succeeded. Systems without md/raid1 configured are not affected regardless of kernel version. The CVSS PR:L metric indicates at minimum low-privilege authenticated access is required to issue writes to the RAID array. Pure read workloads do not exercise the affected code paths. The reference leak is cumulative rather than immediately exploitable, limiting the impact to sustained-operation scenarios rather than a single-packet crash.

Impact

The supplied CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H, score 7.1) assigns a network attack vector that is inconsistent with the nature of the bug: the vulnerability resides in a kernel block-layer driver triggered by write I/O on an md/raid1 array; while network-attached storage protocols (NFS server, iSCSI) can route writes into this code path indirectly, the direct trigger is a kernel-internal write dispatch failure, making AV:L a more defensible assignment. The Availability:High rating is the most credible signal - accumulating reference leaks on a busy server with active software RAID under error conditions could degrade or hang the system over time. The EPSS score of 0.20% (10th percentile) reflects very low automated exploitation probability, consistent with the complexity of reliably triggering kernel write-failure paths without a proof-of-concept; there is no CISA KEV listing and no public exploit. Even a mid-sized municipal IT team in bytom operating Linux file servers with md/raid1 arrays should treat this as a routine patching priority rather than an emergency response. The 'Information Disclosure' tag in the source data appears to be an incorrect classification - the CVSS vector itself confirms C:N, and the description contains no confidentiality impact.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A local user or process with write access to a filesystem backed by an md/raid1 array, on a system with degraded or error-prone underlying block devices, could repeatedly trigger write failures that cause reference counts to accumulate silently over time, eventually resulting in system hang or crash. No public exploit or proof-of-concept code has been identified, making opportunistic remote exploitation implausible; a targeted local attack would require inducing block-level write errors reliably, which demands either physical access, a faulty device, or pre-existing elevated privileges.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 17, 2026

Reference count and barrier leaks in the Linux kernel md/raid1 write dispatch path leave writes_pending and barrier accounting permanently imbalanced on certain write failure conditions, producing a high availability impact - potential system hang or crash - on any Linux host running software RAID-1 from kernel 5.17 through pre-7.1.5. The vulnerability is fixed in stable trees at 7.1.5 and 7.2-rc1 via two upstream commits. No active exploitation has been confirmed (no CISA KEV listing), no public exploit code exists, and an EPSS score of 0.20% at the 10th percentile indicates very low current real-world exploitation probability.

RemediationAI

The primary fix is upgrading to Linux kernel 7.1.5 or later in the 7.1 stable series, or tracking 7.2-rc1 for development environments. The authoritative upstream patches are commits bffbbfcbd9393e315a7a4286dcd70e875265db9a and 8e065a1602511282fc0da2dc89445e0eb71a681c in the kernel stable repository. Administrators on distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, and SUSE should check their respective security advisories for backported kernel packages, as no distro-level advisory has been identified at the time of this analysis. Where an immediate kernel upgrade is not feasible, a targeted compensating control is to minimize the conditions that exercise the failure paths: ensure underlying block devices in md/raid1 arrays are healthy and avoid running degraded arrays under sustained write load, which reduces the likelihood of write failures triggering the leak. This does not eliminate the vulnerability and should not substitute for patching. NVD details are available at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72440.

Affected VersionsENISA

Linux 5.17
Linux patch: 7.1.5
Linux patch: 7.2-rc1
Linux patch: 0
Linux 5aa705039c4fca84575539bfa2b8a28454a3d2ca <bffbbfcbd9393e315a7a4286dcd70e875265db9a
Linux 5aa705039c4fca84575539bfa2b8a28454a3d2ca <8e065a1602511282fc0da2dc89445e0eb71a681c

Affected Packages

euvd linux no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The affected component is the md/raid1 driver (Multiple Device, RAID-1 mirroring) in the Linux kernel, covered by CPE cpe:2.3:a:linux:linux:*. The root cause is a resource management defect structurally equivalent to CWE-772 (Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime): raid1_make_request() calls md_write_start() to acquire a writes_pending reference before delegating to raid1_write_request(), but several early-return failure paths within raid1_write_request() complete the bio and return without invoking md_write_end(), leaving the reference permanently held. A second independent leak occurs when wait_blocked_rdev() fails after wait_barrier() has already succeeded - the barrier reference is never released via allow_barrier(), leaving the barrier count permanently elevated. The fix introduces a return status from raid1_write_request() enabling raid1_make_request() to call md_write_end() on failure, and adds an explicit allow_barrier() call on the affected error path. Both stable-tree fixes are published at git.kernel.org.

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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY 7.1 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
vuln.today AI 6.1 MEDIUM

Write-failure path is local kernel code triggered by block I/O; AV:L more accurate than supplied AV:N; PR:L required to issue writes to RAID array.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE 4.7 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Red Hat 5.5 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

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

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Aug 17, 2026 - 06:22 NVD
7.1 (HIGH)
Patch available
Aug 15, 2026 - 07:20 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 05:56 cve.org
HIGH 7.1
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 05:56 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

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

md/raid1: fix writes_pending and barrier reference leaks on write failures

raid1_make_request() acquires a writes_pending reference with md_write_start() before calling raid1_write_request(). Several failure paths in raid1_write_request() complete the bio and return without reaching the normal write completion path, causing the corresponding md_write_end() to be skipped.

Make raid1_write_request() return a status indicating whether the write request was successfully queued. This allows raid1_make_request() to call md_write_end() when raid1_write_request() fails.

Additionally, if wait_blocked_rdev() fails after wait_barrier() succeeds, the associated barrier reference is not released.

Call allow_barrier() before returning from that path to keep the barrier accounting balanced.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

A reference counting flaw in the Linux kernel RAID-1 subsystem (CVE-2026-72440) can cause system hangs or crashes when write operations fail on affected kernel versions (5.17 through pre-7.1.5). Organizations using software RAID-1 for critical storage availability face a potential denial-of-service risk; however, no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis and real-world exploitation probability is very low. Patching to kernel version 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc1 should be prioritized to eliminate this high-availability risk.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 90% exploitable
Prevalence
High
Linux kernel widely deployed; md/raid1 common across server environments
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
High

Priority Score

36
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +36
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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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