CVE-2026-72474
Received Received - Intake

Linux Kernel DMA Descriptor Use-After-Free Vulnerability

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-72474, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-08-15

Last updated on: 2026-08-15

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: dma-axi-dmac: use DMA pool to manange DMA descriptor For architectures like Microblaze or arm64 (where this IP is used), DMA_DIRECT_REMAP is set which means that dma_alloc_coherent() might remap (and hence vmalloc()) some memory. This became visible in a design where dma_direct_use_pool() is not possible. With the above, when calling dma_free_coherent(), vunmap() would be called from softirq context and thus leading to a BUG(). To fix it, use a dma pool that is allocated in .device_alloc_chan_resources() and allocate blocks from it. The key point is that now dma_pool_free() is used in axi_dmac_free_desc() to free the blocks and that just frees the blocks from the pool in the sense they can be used again. In other words, no actual call to dma_free_coherent() happens. That only happens when destroying the pool in axi_dmac_free_chan_resources() which does not happen in any interrupt context.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-15
Last Modified
2026-08-15
Generated
2026-08-15
AI Q&A
2026-08-15
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Currently, no data is known.

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel involves a bug in the dma-axi-dmac driver where improper handling of DMA descriptors could lead to a system crash. Specifically, when DMA_DIRECT_REMAP is enabled, calling dma_free_coherent() from softirq context triggers a BUG() due to vunmap() being called in an interrupt context. The fix involves using a DMA pool to manage descriptors, avoiding direct calls to dma_free_coherent() in interrupt contexts.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could cause system instability or crashes, particularly on systems using Microblaze or arm64 architectures with the affected DMA driver. It may lead to kernel panics or unexpected reboots when DMA operations are performed, potentially disrupting services or causing data loss.

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