CVE-2026-72368

cachefiles: Fix double unlock in nomem_d_alloc error path

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 15, 2026 at 05:56 AM UTC
Updated: August 17, 2026 at 06:18 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cachefiles: Fix double unlock in nomem_d_alloc error path When start_creating() fails and returns -ENOMEM, it has already released the parent directory lock in __start_dirop(): static struct dentry *__start_dirop(...) { ... inode_lock_nested(dir, I_MUTEX_PARENT); dentry = lookup_one_qstr_excl(name, parent, lookup_flags); if (IS_ERR(dentry)) inode_unlock(dir); <-- Lock released on error return dentry; } However, the nomem_d_alloc error path in cachefiles_get_directory() unconditionally calls inode_unlock(d_inode(dir)) again, causing a double unlock that corrupts the rwsem state. This is a leftover from commit 7ab96df840e60 which replaced manual locking with start_creating() but failed to update the nomem_d_alloc path (while correctly updating mkdir_error and lookup_error paths).

Affected

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

6.19 ≤ v < 7.1.56.19 ≤ v < 7.26.197ab96df840e60eb933abfe65fc5fe44e72f16dc0
Vendor states this is fixed in 26757dac15175f2a42e3537f1ba86e62456d48f1 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8c256fba2b46020004201c500b2a1fbc707a33ef (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.19 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.5 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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