Memory Leak Vulnerability in Linux Kernel Affects DAMON Context Management

CVE-2026-46087

What is CVE-2026-46087?

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel involves a memory leak stemming from the DAMON context management. When the function damon_start() fails, the system does not properly destroy the DAMON context and reset the global pointer. As a result, memory allocated by the damon_stat_build_ctx() is not freed, subsequently leading to an unreachable stale pointer during subsequent enable attempts. This flaw could cause unnecessary memory allocation, potentially degrading system performance.

References