Memory Block Device Reference Leak in Linux Kernel

CVE-2026-64180

What is CVE-2026-64180?

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's memory management subsystem has been identified, which leads to a memory block device reference leak. This occurs when the removal of memory blocks fails to drop the reference acquired during the lookup process. Particularly, after accessing the auxiliary altmap associated with the memory block, the reference to the memory block device remains intact, potentially resulting in unnecessary resource consumption and destabilization of the system. The issue has been addressed with a patch that ensures proper reference management during the removal of memory blocks.

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