CVE-2026-53207: Linux kernel · mm/memory-failure: fix hugetlb_lock AA deadlock in get_huge_page_for_hwpoison
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.09% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 0% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
The described fix involves code changes in the Linux kernel to move lock acquisition and release appropriately to prevent deadlock. Until an official patch is available, avoid concurrent madvise(MADV_HWPOISON) calls on the same hugetlb page racing with unmap operations if possible.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/memory-failure: fix hugetlb_lock AA deadlock in get_huge_page_for_hwpoison Two concurrent madvise(MADV_HWPOISON) calls on the same hugetlb page can trigger a recursive spinlock self-deadlock (AA deadlock) on hugetlb_lock when racing with a concurrent unmap: thread#0 thread#1 -------- -------- madvise(folio, MADV_HWPOISON) -> poisons the folio successfully madvise(folio, MADV_HWPOISON) unmap(folio) try_memory_failure_hugetlb get_huge_page_for_hwpoison spin_lock_irq(&hugetlb_lock) <- held __get_huge_page_for_hwpoison hugetlb_update_hwpoison() -> MF_HUGETLB_FOLIO_PRE_POISONED goto out: folio_put() refcount: 1 -> 0 free_huge_folio() spin_lock_irqsave(&hugetlb_lock) -> AA DEADLOCK! The out: path in __get_huge_page_for_hwpoison() calls folio_put() to drop the GUP reference while the hugetlb_lock is still held by the hugetlb.c wrapper get_huge_page_for_hwpoison(). If concurrent unmap has released the page table mapping reference, folio_put() drops the folio refcount to zero, triggering free_huge_folio() which attempts to re-acquire the non-recursive hugetlb_lock. Fix this by moving hugetlb_lock acquisition from the hugetlb.c wrapper into get_huge_page_for_hwpoison(). Place spin_unlock_irq() before the folio_put() at the out: label so the folio is always released outside the lock. [akpm@linux-foundation.org: fix race, rename label per Miaohe]
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53207 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/3c2d42b8ee345b17a4ba56b0f6492d1ff4c1178e (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/77b73b54801ae7137479c141fd0473a491c1dc48 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a33bfed648c10f5a1519981dbfad80841191edc8 (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf7ba8f96c258c30393814491930ae4ecdc5fe5e (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd77a83915b07e2b0205adb284f08b39ae31dc4b (opens in a new tab)
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc3ff42cb0cbf947e4600ae9761c3783760050e2 (opens in a new tab)