CVE-2026-45961 | gfs2: fix memory leaks in gfs2_fill_super error path

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gfs2: fix memory leaks in gfs2_fill_super error path Fix two memory leaks in the gfs2_fill_super() error handling path when transitioning a filesystem to read-write mode fails. First leak: kthread objects (thread_struct, task_struct, etc.) When gfs2_freeze_lock_shared() fails after init_threads() succeeds, the created kernel threads (logd and quotad) are never destroyed. This occurs because the fail_per_node label doesn't call gfs2_destroy_threads(). Second leak: quota bitmap buffer (8192 bytes) When gfs2_make_fs_rw() fails after gfs2_quota_init() succeeds but before other operations complete, the allocated quota bitmap is never freed. The fix moves thread cleanup to the fail_per_node label to handle all error paths uniformly. gfs2_destroy_threads() is safe to call unconditionally as it checks for NULL pointers. Quota cleanup is added in gfs2_make_fs_rw() to properly handle the withdrawal case where quota initialization succeeds but the filesystem is then withdrawn. Thread leak backtrace (gfs2_freeze_lock_shared failure): unreferenced object 0xffff88801d7bca80 (size 4480): copy_process+0x3a1/0x4670 kernel/fork.c:2422 kernel_clone+0xf3/0x6e0 kernel/fork.c:2779 kthread_create_on_node+0x100/0x150 kernel/kthread.c:478 init_threads+0xab/0x350 fs/gfs2/ops_fstype.c:611 gfs2_fill_super+0xe5c/0x1240 fs/gfs2/ops_fstype.c:1265 Quota leak backtrace (gfs2_make_fs_rw failure): unreferenced object 0xffff88812de7c000 (size 8192): gfs2_quota_init+0xe5/0x820 fs/gfs2/quota.c:1409 gfs2_make_fs_rw+0x7a/0xe0 fs/gfs2/super.c:149 gfs2_fill_super+0xfbb/0x1240 fs/gfs2/ops_fstype.c:1275

Published: 2026-05-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-45961 is rated Low Risk (23.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.14%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-45961

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-16 0.20% 0.14% -0.05%
2 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.20% +0.18%
3 2026-05-28 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-45961

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-45961

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-45961

GHSA-848w-4wg8-36v4 · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: gfs2: fix memory leaks in...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-45961

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-45961 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 3, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-45961
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-45961
suse low CVE-2026-45961 severity low: SUSE including 14 source package names (cluster-md-kmp-default, dlm-kmp-default, …), 53 product×package rows across 12 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5, SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0, … (12 product lines)): Known Not Affected 53. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-45961/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-45961 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1422 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1024, ignored 169, needed 89, released 84, not-affected 55, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-45961

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-45961

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 5.10.173, < 5.11 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.15.99, < 5.16 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.1.16, < 6.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.2.3, < 6.19.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-45961

cvelogic Threat Intelligence