CVE-2026-53155mm/huge_memory: use correct flags for device private PMD entry
- 5.5MediumCVSS base score
- 0.14%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 96% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/huge_memory: use correct flags for device private PMD entry Commit 65edfda6f3f2 ("mm/rmap: extend rmap and migration support device-private entries") updated set_pmd_migration_entry() to use pmdp_huge_get_and_clear() in the softleaf case, but made no further adjustments to the function itself. Therefore this function continues to incorrectly use pmd_write(), pmd_soft_dirty() and pmd_uffd_wp() to determine whether the installed migration entry should be marked writable, softdirty or uffd-wp respectively. Whilst all are incorrect, the most problematic of these is pmd_write(), as this can lead to corrupted rmap state. On x86-64 _PAGE_SWP_SOFT_DIRTY is aliased to _PAGE_RW. So calling pmd_write() on a softleaf will return the softdirty state encoded in the entry, assuming CONFIG_MEM_SOFT_DIRTY was enabled. This was observed when running the hmm.hmm_device_private.anon_write_child selftest: 1. The test faults in a range then migrates it such that a device-private THP range is established. 2. The parent then migrates it to a device-private writable PMD entry whose folio is entirely AnonExclusive with entire_mapcount=1, softdirty set (accidentally correct write state). 3. The parent forks and the PMD entries are set to device-private read only entries, entire_mapcount=2, softdirty still set. 4. [BUG] The child writes to the range then migrates to RAM - intending to install non-writable migration entries - but replacing parent and child PMD mappings with WRITABLE entries due to misinterpreting the softdirty bit. 5. In remove_migration_pmd(), if !softleaf_is_migration_read(entry) we set the RMAP_EXCLUSIVE flag when calling folio_add_anon_rmap_pmd() for both parent and child, which are therefore AnonExclusive. 6. [SPLAT] Child sets migrated folio entire_mapcount=1, parent sets entire_mapcount=2 and we end up with an AnonExclusive folio with entire_mapcount=2! Assert fires in __folio_add_anon_rmap(): VM_WARN_ON_FOLIO(folio_test_large(folio) && folio_entire_mapcount(folio) > 1 && PageAnonExclusive(cur_page), folio) This patch fixes the issue by correctly referencing the softleaf entry fields for writable, softdirty and uffd-wp in set_pmd_migration_entry(). It also only updates A/D flags if the entry is present as these are otherwise not meaningful for a softleaf entry. This patch also flips the if (!present) { ... } else { ... } logic in set_pmd_migration_entry() so it is easier to understand, and adds some comments to make things clearer. I was able to bisect this to commit 775465fd26a3 ("lib/test_hmm: add zone device private THP test infrastructure") which first exposes this bug as it was the commit that permitted test_hmm to generate the test. However commit 65edfda6f3f2 ("mm/rmap: extend rmap and migration support device-private entries") is the commit that actually enabled this behaviour.
Timeline
ID reserved
By Linux
- 16 days later
· 16 days later
Published
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.14% · top 96% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.5.
Affected products
References
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-39246 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-53155)Record last updated .