VulnerabilityPublished 15 Aug 2026Updated 6 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-72316: Linux kernel · dm era: fix NULL pointer dereference in metadata_open()

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · fixed in bd5a80128bdfc93b1cae935a70da000b8c483e6e : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 6 Nov 2026, 17:04 UTC

Severity

Unrated

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

Exploitation: No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
Automatable: Attackers cannot reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
Technical impact: Limited control over the software or limited information exposure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-11-06.

Patch

Available – fixed in bd5a80128bdfc93b1cae935a70da000b8c483e6e, b69ea153d30ce19ca8997eeeca1e2219fae5a29b, a705e056c2f3dd067fb2ff414f0537530baa090b +5

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 15 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 6 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ eec40579d84873dfb7021eb24c50360f073237c5, < bd5a80128bdfc93b1cae935a70da000b8c483e6e	Fixed in bd5a80128bdfc93b1cae935a70da000b8c483e6e
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ eec40579d84873dfb7021eb24c50360f073237c5, < b69ea153d30ce19ca8997eeeca1e2219fae5a29b	Fixed in b69ea153d30ce19ca8997eeeca1e2219fae5a29b
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ eec40579d84873dfb7021eb24c50360f073237c5, < a705e056c2f3dd067fb2ff414f0537530baa090b	Fixed in a705e056c2f3dd067fb2ff414f0537530baa090b
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ eec40579d84873dfb7021eb24c50360f073237c5, < 889374b8e4a60d13fe4a5a8ae3a311ca93d1a2c3	Fixed in 889374b8e4a60d13fe4a5a8ae3a311ca93d1a2c3
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ eec40579d84873dfb7021eb24c50360f073237c5, < 17eb2ab13edd0b06ce6f996c5fd450d7efabb2e8	Fixed in 17eb2ab13edd0b06ce6f996c5fd450d7efabb2e8
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ eec40579d84873dfb7021eb24c50360f073237c5, < 14e03ecd3b1b5fc03c082b27a2f8889f8290c30e	Fixed in 14e03ecd3b1b5fc03c082b27a2f8889f8290c30e

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm era: fix NULL pointer dereference in metadata_open() metadata_open() returns NULL when kzalloc_obj() fails, but the caller era_ctr() only checks IS_ERR(md). Since IS_ERR(NULL) returns false, the NULL pointer is treated as a valid result and later assigned to era->md, leading to a NULL pointer dereference when the metadata is accessed. Fix this by returning ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) on allocation failure, consistent with dm-cache-metadata.c, dm-thin-metadata.c, and dm-clone-metadata.c which all use ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) for the same pattern.

References

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