CVE-2026-53060

dm cache metadata: fix memory leak on metadata abort retry

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: June 24, 2026 at 04:30 PM UTC
Updated: July 21, 2026 at 05:49 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

Using Linux by Linux?

Get instant alerts when new vulnerabilities affect Linux - before attackers find them.

Real-time alertsTrack your software stackFree plan available
Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm cache metadata: fix memory leak on metadata abort retry When failing to acquire the root_lock in dm_cache_metadata_abort because the block_manager is read-only, the temporary block_manager created outside the root_lock is not properly released, causing a memory leak. Reproduce steps: This can be reproduced by reloading a new table while the metadata is read-only. While the second call to dm_cache_metadata_abort is caused by lack of support for table preload in dm-cache, mentioned in commit 9b1cc9f251af ("dm cache: share cache-metadata object across inactive and active DM tables"), it exposes the memory leak in dm_cache_metadata_abort when the function is called multiple times. Specifically, dm-cache fails to sync the new cache object's mode during preresume, creating the reproducer condition. This issue could also occur through concurrent metadata_operation_failed calls due to races in cache mode updates, but the table preload scenario below provides a reliable reproducer. 1. Create a cache device with some faulty trailing metadata blocks dmsetup create cmeta <<EOF 0 200 linear /dev/sdc 0 200 7992 error EOF dmsetup create cdata --table "0 131072 linear /dev/sdc 8192" dmsetup create corig --table "0 262144 linear /dev/sdc 262144" dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mapper/cmeta bs=4k count=1 oflag=direct dmsetup create cache --table "0 131072 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \ /dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 1 writethrough smq 0" 2. Suspend and resume the cache to start a new metadata transaction and trigger metadata io errors on the next metadata commit. dmsetup suspend cache dmsetup resume cache 3. Write to the cache device to update metadata fio --filename=/dev/mapper/cache --name test --rw=randwrite --bs=4k \ --randrepeat=0 --direct=1 --size 64k 4. Preload the same table dmsetup reload cache --table "$(dmsetup table cache)" 5. Resume the new table. This triggers the memory leak. dmsetup suspend cache dmsetup resume cache kmemleak logs: <snip> unreferenced object 0xffff8880080c2010 (size 16): comm "dmsetup", pid 132, jiffies 4294982580 hex dump (first 16 bytes): 00 38 b9 07 80 88 ff ff 6a 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b a5 ... backtrace (crc 3118f31c): kmemleak_alloc+0x28/0x40 __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x3d9/0x510 dm_block_manager_create+0x51/0x140 dm_cache_metadata_abort+0x85/0x320 metadata_operation_failed+0x103/0x1e0 cache_preresume+0xacd/0xe70 dm_table_resume_targets+0xd3/0x320 __dm_resume+0x1b/0xf0 dm_resume+0x127/0x170 <snip>

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v ≥ 4.14.303v ≥ 4.19.270v ≥ 4.9.337v ≥ 5.4.229v ≥ 6.0.184.14.303 ≤ v < 4.154.19.270 ≤ v < 4.204.9.337 ≤ v < 4.105.10.163 ≤ v < 5.10.2585.15.87 ≤ v < 5.15.2095.4.229 ≤ v < 5.56.0.18 ≤ v < 6.16.1.4 ≤ v < 6.1.1756.13 ≤ v < 6.18.336.19 ≤ v < 7.0.106.2 ≤ v < 6.12.916.2 ≤ v < 6.18.336.2 ≤ v < 6.6.1416.2 ≤ v < 7.0.106.2 ≤ v < 7.16.7 ≤ v < 6.12.9128d307f380df88a598bc0186d527462902d9bda1352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d4243972ae47d0ee9b5b434af5d0cca6cdfd1e239d4f4.14.3034.19.2704.9.3375.10.1635.15.875.4.2296.0.186.1.46.26e237cacda8b4e976849e7bff9fe7dff0e9685869958f5ffc44530b650fb4cc9038a4d167fa4f5c1b45e77b79215405bd039a690f5b06cc03e8ed27dbdd4e106929ac943f3226d8f03754b480701e97bf472bfc95d9c9653172dbdad39219b32fabf9b92f74b7c5a85e22cd9091845e0d62a1dd89d0f855f
Vendor states this is fixed in 044ca491d4086dc5bf233e9fcb71db52df32f633 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 14f60e957f34f95a626caec76a8fae88cf4c397f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 15c30997dca681f90dbf2d45ee629c1828bf0c0d (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 322a3b70368d49e39591fe9fc6c07d262128b05f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4311ca59a1891d33c4c8b7946f98c34f167fe833 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6b97cc7a42905755c56bbddc33aa8b792205caee (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in b0bd35535bdb6f58505f3a30ee5793986943997a (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in d1a79620c419a0af1911f99c873014b30740e303 (fixed)
Affected range stops below 4.10, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.15, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 4.20, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.258 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.209 (unaffected)
Affected range stops below 5.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 6.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.175 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.91 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.33 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.2 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.141 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.0.10 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1 (unaffected)

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-401

Get alerted

Stop reading CVE feeds looking for your own stack

Track the products you run and VulnTracker tells you when a new CVE affects them — with what is known about fixing it, and nothing about the rest.

Free plan, no card