CVE-2026-72213: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix hugetlb cgroup rsvd charge/uncharge mismatch In alloc_hugetlb

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix hugetlb cgroup rsvd charge/uncharge mismatch In alloc_hugetlb_folio(), a s

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: fix hugetlb cgroup rsvd charge/uncharge mismatch In alloc_hugetlb_folio(), a single h_cg pointer is used for both the rsvd and non-rsvd hugetlb cgroup charges. When map_chg is set, hugetlb_cgroup_charge_cgroup_rsvd() stores the charged cgroup in h_cg, but the immediately following hugetlb_cgroup_charge_cgroup() overwrites h_cg with the non-rsvd cgroup pointer. As a result, hugetlb_cgroup_commit_charge_rsvd() stores the wrong (non-rsvd) cgroup pointer into the folio's rsvd slot. When the folio is later freed, free_huge_folio() unconditionally calls both hugetlb_cgroup_uncharge_folio() and hugetlb_cgroup_uncharge_folio_rsvd(). The rsvd uncharge reads back the wrong cgroup from the folio and decrements a counter that was never charged for that cgroup, causing a page_counter underflow: page_counter underflow: -512 nr_pages=512 WARNING: mm/page_counter.c:61 at page_counter_cancel Fix this by introducing a separate h_cg_rsvd pointer exclusively for the rsvd charge path, keeping the rsvd and non-rsvd charges fully independent through their charge, commit, and error uncharge paths.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.16%, higher than 5% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 31, 2026, updated daily.

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Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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