data built 2026-10-19T13:16:53Z

Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-93218 in the interactive tracker

CVE-2026-93218

mm/huge_memory: skip device-private PMDs in madvise_free_huge_pmd

EPSS 0.2%

Published 2026-09-24 (24 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem mm. Debian urgency: unimportant.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-93218 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 12bookwormnot affected6.1.190-1Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code.
Debian 13trixienot affected6.12.113-1Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code.
Debian 14forkyfixed7.2.6-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesidfixed7.2.6-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

madvise_free_pte_range() checks pmd_trans_huge(*pmd) unlocked, then madvise_free_huge_pmd() takes pmd_trans_huge_lock(). pmd_is_huge() returns true for a device-private PMD, so orig_pmd can be device-private and enter the !pmd_present() branch. Skip device-private PMDs in that non-present branch and continue to out before calling pmd_folio(). Downgrade the check to VM_WARN_ON_ONCE() so an unexpected PMD softleaf logs a warning rather than panicking. Drop the thp_migration_supported() guard: it expands to IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_ARCH_SUPPORTS_PMD_SOFTLEAF), and both pmd_is_migration_entry() and pmd_is_device_private_entry() already return false when that config is not selected, so the guard suppresses only the case where the warning would already be silent. Potential trigger: an HMM-based GPU driver races with madvise(MADV_FREE): migrate_vma_pages() flips the PMD to a device-private entry between the caller's pmd_trans_huge() check and the callee's pmd_trans_huge_lock().

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.

mm/huge_memory.c

What this is
MEMORY MANAGEMENT - THP (TRANSPARENT HUGE PAGE)MAINTAINERS section matched on mm/huge_memory.c · linux-mm@kvack.org · Maintained

Check it on the machine

grep -w CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE /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.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.

  • bookwormYnot built on amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/rt/arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/rt/armmp, i386/rt/686-pae
  • trixieYnot built on amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/rt/arm64, armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/rt/armmp
  • forky, sidYnot built on amd64/rt-amd64, arm64/rt-arm64, armhf/armmp
Y
built in where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
Build switch
CONFIG_TRANSPARENT_HUGEPAGE

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
2026-09-24 (24 days ago)source
CVSS
no vector published, unrated
Attack vector
not published
EPSS
0.15%, higher than 4.3% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV
not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency
unimportantsource
Subsystem
mm

Upstream fixes

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

IntroducedFixed inCommit
6.197.2.45e3026bf7364
6.197.3ce579dcf730c

Why the CNA scored it this way

The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-93218, 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.