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Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-53060 in the interactive tracker

CVE-2026-53060

dm cache metadata: fix memory leak on metadata abort retry

EPSS 0.1%

Published 2026-06-24 (4 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/md. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-53060 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source

ReleaseStatus VersionWhat this means
Debian 12bookwormfixedDLA-4665-1 · 2026-07-03 · text6.1.176-1Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4665-1 shipped the fix on 2026-07-03, in 6.1.176-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 13trixiefixed6.12.94-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.94-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian 14forkyfixed7.0.10-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.10-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesidfixed7.0.10-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.10-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

When failing to acquire the root_lock in dm_cache_metadata_abort because the block_manager is read-only, the temporary block_manager created outside the root_lock is not properly released, causing a memory leak. Reproduce steps: This can be reproduced by reloading a new table while the metadata is read-only. While the second call to dm_cache_metadata_abort is caused by lack of support for table preload in dm-cache, mentioned in commit 9b1cc9f251af ("dm cache: share cache-metadata object across inactive and active DM tables"), it exposes the memory leak in dm_cache_metadata_abort when the function is called multiple times. Specifically, dm-cache fails to sync the new cache object's mode during preresume, creating the reproducer condition. This issue could also occur through concurrent metadata_operation_failed calls due to races in cache mode updates, but the table preload scenario below provides a reliable reproducer. 1. Create a cache device with some faulty trailing metadata blocks dmsetup create cmeta <<EOF 0 200 linear /dev/sdc 0 200 7992 error EOF dmsetup create cdata --table "0 131072 linear /dev/sdc 8192" dmsetup create corig --table "0 262144 linear /dev/sdc 262144" dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mapper/cmeta bs=4k count=1 oflag=direct dmsetup create cache --table "0 131072 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \ /dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 1 writethrough smq 0" 2. Suspend and resume the cache to start a new metadata transaction and trigger metadata io errors on the next metadata commit. dmsetup suspend cache dmsetup resume cache 3. Write to the cache device to update metadata fio --filename=/dev/mapper/cache --name test --rw=randwrite --bs=4k \ --randrepeat=0 --direct=1 --size 64k 4. Preload the same table dmsetup reload cache --table "$(dmsetup table cache)" 5. Resume the new table. This triggers the memory leak. dmsetup suspend cache dmsetup resume cache kmemleak logs: <snip> unreferenced object 0xffff8880080c2010 (size 16): comm "dmsetup", pid 132, jiffies 4294982580 hex dump (first 16 bytes): 00 38 b9 07 80 88 ff ff 6a 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b a5 ... backtrace (crc 3118f31c): kmemleak_alloc+0x28/0x40 __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x3d9/0x510 dm_block_manager_create+0x51/0x140 dm_cache_metadata_abort+0x85/0x320 metadata_operation_failed+0x103/0x1e0 cache_preresume+0xacd/0xe70 dm_table_resume_targets+0xd3/0x320 __dm_resume+0x1b/0xf0 dm_resume+0x127/0x170 <snip>

Where it lives

The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.

drivers/md/dm-cache-metadata.c

What this is
DEVICE-MAPPER (LVM)MAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/md/dm* · dm-devel@lists.linux.dev · Maintained
Kernel module
dm_cache

Check it on the machine

grep -wE 'CONFIG_DM_CACHE|CONFIG_MD' /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.

lsmod | grep -w dm_cache

Prints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded.

  • bookworm, trixie, forky, sidm
m
a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
Build switches
CONFIG_DM_CACHE, CONFIG_MD
Reads as
all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.

From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages

Signals

Published
2026-06-24 (4 months ago)source
CVSS
no vector published, unrated
Attack vector
not published
EPSS
0.13%, higher than 2.2% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV
not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency
not yet assignedsource
Subsystem
drivers/md

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

IntroducedFixed inCommit
5.10.1635.10.25814f60e957f34
5.15.875.15.2096b97cc7a4290
6.1.46.1.175d1a79620c419
6.26.6.14115c30997dca6
6.26.12.91b0bd35535bdb
6.26.18.33322a3b70368d
6.27.0.104311ca59a189
6.27.1044ca491d408
4.9.33700
4.14.30300
4.19.27000
5.4.22900
6.0.1800

Debian advisories

AdvisoryDateShipped toDebian
DLA-4671-12026-07-05bullseye 6.1.176-1~deb11u1tracker
DLA-4665-12026-07-03bookworm 6.1.176-1tracker
DLA-4664-12026-07-03bullseye 5.10.259-1tracker

Why the CNA scored it this way

The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-53060, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.