CVE-2026-23177: mm, shmem: prevent infinite loop on truncate race

Published Feb 14, 2026
·
Updated

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

mm, shmem: prevent infinite loop on truncate race

When truncating a large swap entry, shmemfreeswap() returns 0 when the entry's index doesn't match the given index due to lookup alignment. The failure fallback path checks if the entry crosses the end border and aborts when it happens, so truncate won't erase an unexpected entry or range. But one scenario was ignored.

When index points to the middle of a large swap entry, and the large swap entry doesn't go across the end border, findgetentries() will return that large swap entry as the first item in the batch with indices[0] equal to index. The entry's base index will be smaller than indices[0], so shmemfreeswap() will fail and return 0 due to the "base < index" check. The code will then call shmemconfirmswap(), get the order, check if it crosses the END boundary (which it doesn't), and retry with the same index.

The next iteration will find the same entry again at the same index with same indices, leading to an infinite loop.

Fix this by retrying with a round-down index, and abort if the index is smaller than the truncate range.

Affected Software

2 affected componentsFixes available
Linux Linux kernel
debian/linux
6.1.176-16.1.190-16.12.107-16.12.115-27.2.12-17.2.15-1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade debian/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 6.1.176-1Fixed in 6.1.190-1Fixed in 6.12.107-1Fixed in 6.12.113-1Fixed in 7.2.12-1Fixed in 7.2.13-1
  2. Compensating control

    When truncating a large swap entry, retry with a round-down index and abort if the index is smaller than the truncate range.

Event History

Feb 14, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·04:27 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·04:27 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·05:15 PM
Description

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2026-23177?

CVE-2026-23177 has been classified as a medium severity vulnerability in the Linux kernel.

2

What is the impact of CVE-2026-23177?

CVE-2026-23177 can lead to an infinite loop during a race condition when truncating a large swap entry.

3

How do I fix CVE-2026-23177?

To resolve CVE-2026-23177, update your Linux kernel to the latest stable version that includes the patch.

4

Which software versions are affected by CVE-2026-23177?

CVE-2026-23177 affects certain versions of the Linux kernel that do not have the fix applied.

5

Is CVE-2026-23177 remotely exploitable?

CVE-2026-23177 is not remotely exploitable but can affect local users able to perform specific operations on the file system.

Contact

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