In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/damon/core: avoid use of...

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/damon/core: avoid use of half-online-committed context

One major usage of damon_call() is online DAMON parameters update. It is
done by calling damon_commit_ctx() inside the damon_call() callback
function. damon_commit_ctx() can fail for two reasons: 1) invalid
parameters and 2) internal memory allocation failures. In case of
failures, the damon_ctx that attempted to be updated (commit destination)
can be partially updated (or, corrupted from a perspective), and therefore
shouldn't be used anymore. The function only ensures the damon_ctx object
can safely deallocated using damon_destroy_ctx().

The API callers are, however, calling damon_commit_ctx() only after
asserting the parameters are valid, to avoid damon_commit_ctx() fails due
to invalid input parameters. But it can still theoretically fail if the
internal memory allocation fails. In the case, DAMON may run with the
partially updated damon_ctx. This can result in unexpected behaviors
including even NULL pointer dereference in case of damos_commit_dests()
failure [1]. Such allocation failure is arguably too small to fail, so
the real world impact would be rare. But, given the bad consequence, this
needs to be fixed.

Avoid such partially-committed (maybe-corrupted) damon_ctx use by saving
the damon_commit_ctx() failure on the damon_ctx object. For this,
introduce damon_ctx->maybe_corrupted field. damon_commit_ctx() sets it
when it is failed. kdamond_call() checks if the field is set after each
damon_call_control->fn() is executed. If it is set, ignore remaining
callback requests and return. All kdamond_call() callers including
kdamond_fn() also check the maybe_corrupted field right after
kdamond_call() invocations. If the field is set, break the kdamond_fn()
main loop so that DAMON sill doesn't use the context that might be
corrupted.

[[email protected]: let kdamond_call() with cancel regardless of maybe_corrupted]

Basic information

Type
unreviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2026-04-22 15:31:40 UTC
Updated
2026-05-07 21:31:26 UTC
NVD published
2026-04-22

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.01% 2.16%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.5 3.1
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.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-476 NULL Pointer Dereference

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence