Linux: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
CVE-2026-68240 is a high-severity missing release of memory after effective lifetime vulnerability in Linux, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions e8362523fd1b61712f7d996802f9b5dee545c7e6, 72e4fca5529e45b5beebad79d804de442f632324, 7f708f51e3955bda0d77a0b67ab9bea6c97fea99 as the first without the flaw, so updating Linux to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.16% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Linux to e8362523fd1b61712f7d996802f9b5dee545c7e6 or 72e4fca5529e45b5beebad79d804de442f632324 or 7f708f51e3955bda0d77a0b67ab9bea6c97fea99, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | f70da6f99d4f40c5f481c92e3b65d5e36eaa6dc9 up to, but not including, e8362523fd1b61712f7d996802f9b5dee545c7e6; f70da6f99d4f40c5f481c92e3b65d5e36eaa6dc9 up to, but not including, 72e4fca5529e45b5beebad79d804de442f632324; f70da6f99d4f40c5f481c92e3b65d5e36eaa6dc9 up to, but not including, 7f708f51e3955bda0d77a0b67ab9bea6c97fea99; 6.18 | e8362523fd1b61712f7d996802f9b5dee545c7e6, 72e4fca5529e45b5beebad79d804de442f632324, 7f708f51e3955bda0d77a0b67ab9bea6c97fea99 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/gpusvm: publish dpagemap early to avoid device mapping leak on error drm_gpusvm_get_pages() only stored the local dpagemap into svm_pages->dpagemap on the success path. If a later page failed (e.g. -EOPNOTSUPP when ctx->allow_mixed is false) and jumped to err_unmap, svm_pages->dpagemap was still NULL, so __drm_gpusvm_unmap_pages() skipped device_unmap() and leaked the device mappings already created. Assign svm_pages->dpagemap when the first device page is mapped so the err_unmap path can device_unmap() those mappings. This issue was found by Sashiko AI review.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Choose a language or tool that provides automatic memory management, or makes manual memory management less error-prone. For example, glibc in Linux provides protection against free of invalid pointers. When using Xcode to target OS X or iOS, enable automatic reference counting (ARC). To help correctly and consistently manage memory when programming in C++, consider using a smart pointer class such as std
- Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
- Consider using the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector (bdwgc), which can help avoid leaks.
More Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerabilities (CWE-401)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Recent Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime vulnerabilities
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- 7.5 High severity
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