CVE-2026-72132: NFS: Charge unstable writes by request size, not folio size

Published Aug 15, 2026
·
Updated

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

NFS: Charge unstable writes by request size, not folio size

nfsfoliomarkunstable() and nfsfolioclearcommit() charge and uncharge NRWRITEBACK/WBWRITEBACK by folionrpages(folio) once per request added to or removed from a commit list. This is correct only when a folio has a single associated request. When pgtest splits a folio into N sub-folio requests (e.g. pNFS flexfiles striping with a stripe unit smaller than the folio size, or plain wsize-limited splitting), each of the N requests independently charges the whole folio's page count, inflating the accounting by a factor of N per folio. With large folios and small stripe units this reaches multiple orders of magnitude: a 2 MiB folio split into 512 4 KiB requests can charge up to 512x its real size, pushing global dirty+writeback accounting past the system's dirty threshold and forcing every buffered writer on the host into the hard-throttle path, including unrelated in-kernel NFS server threads sharing the box.

Charge each request only for the pages it actually covers.

Affected Software

1 affected component
Linux Linux kernel

Event History

Aug 15, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·05:53 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·05:53 AM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·06:21 AM
Description
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2026-72132?

CVE-2026-72132 has a risk score of 37, indicating a moderate severity vulnerability.

2

How does CVE-2026-72132 impact the Linux kernel?

CVE-2026-72132 affects how unstable writes are charged in the NFS subsystem of the Linux kernel, potentially leading to incorrect resource tracking.

3

How do I fix CVE-2026-72132?

To fix CVE-2026-72132, update the Linux kernel to the latest version where the vulnerability has been resolved.

4

What systems are affected by CVE-2026-72132?

CVE-2026-72132 affects systems running specific versions of the Linux kernel that use NFS for file handling.

5

Is there a workaround for CVE-2026-72132 until a patch is applied?

There are no recommended workarounds for CVE-2026-72132; the best course of action is to apply the security patch promptly.

Contact

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