Highly exploitable, CVE-2026-31398 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Last updated: 🕑 27 Apr 2026, 14:16 UTC
Originally published on: 🕓 03 Apr 2026, 16:16 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 23 days
CVSS Release: version 3
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2026-31398: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/rmap: fix incorrect pte restoration for lazyfree folios We batch unmap anonymous lazyfree folios by folio_unmap_pte_batch. If the batch has a mix of writable and non-writable bits, we may end up setting the entire batch writable. Fix this by respecting writable bit during batching. Although on a successful unmap of a lazyfree folio, the soft-dirty bit is lost, preserve it on pte restoration by respecting the bit during batching, to make the fix consistent w.r.t both writable bit and soft-dirty bit. I was able to write the below reproducer and crash the kernel. Explanation of reproducer (set 64K mTHP to always): Fault in a 64K large folio. Split the VMA at mid-point with MADV_DONTFORK. fork() - parent points to the folio with 8 writable ptes and 8 non-writable ptes. Merge the VMAs with MADV_DOFORK so that folio_unmap_pte_batch() can determine all the 16 ptes as a batch. Do MADV_FREE on the range to mark the folio as lazyfree. Write to the memory to dirty the pte, eventually rmap will dirty the folio. Then trigger reclaim, we will hit the pte restoration path, and the kernel will crash with the trace given below. The BUG happens at: BUG_ON(atomic_inc_return(&ptc->anon_map_count) > 1 && rw); The code path is asking for anonymous page to be mapped writable into the pagetable. The BUG_ON() firing implies that such a writable page has been mapped into the pagetables of more than one process, which breaks anonymous memory/CoW semantics. [ 21.134473] kernel BUG at mm/page_table_check.c:118! [ 21.134497] Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] SMP [ 21.135917] Modules linked in: [ 21.136085] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 1735 Comm: dup-lazyfree Not tainted 7.0.0-rc1-00116-g018018a17770 #1028 PREEMPT [ 21.136858] Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) [ 21.137019] pstate: 21400005 (nzCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 21.137308] pc : page_table_check_set+0x28c/0x2a8 [ 21.137607] lr : page_table_check_set+0x134/0x2a8 [ 21.137885] sp : ffff80008a3b3340 [ 21.138124] x29: ffff80008a3b3340 x28: fffffdffc3d14400 x27: ffffd1a55e03d000 [ 21.138623] x26: 0040000000000040 x25: ffffd1a55f7dd000 x24: 0000000000000001 [ 21.139045] x23: 0000000000000001 x22: 0000000000000001 x21: ffffd1a55f217f30 [ 21.139629] x20: 0000000000134521 x19: 0000000000134519 x18: 005c43e000040000 [ 21.140027] x17: 0001400000000000 x16: 0001700000000000 x15: 000000000000ffff [ 21.140578] x14: 000000000000000c x13: 005c006000000000 x12: 0000000000000020 [ 21.140828] x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 005c000000000000 x9 : ffffd1a55c079ee0 [ 21.141077] x8 : 0000000000000001 x7 : 005c03e000040000 x6 : 000000004000ffff [ 21.141490] x5 : ffff00017fffce00 x4 : 0000000000000001 x3 : 0000000000000002 [ 21.141741] x2 : 0000000000134510 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffff0000c08228c0 [ 21.141991] Call trace: [ 21.142093] page_table_check_set+0x28c/0x2a8 (P) [ 21.142265] __page_table_check_ptes_set+0x144/0x1e8 [ 21.142441] __set_ptes_anysz.constprop.0+0x160/0x1a8 [ 21.142766] contpte_set_ptes+0xe8/0x140 [ 21.142907] try_to_unmap_one+0x10c4/0x10d0 [ 21.143177] rmap_walk_anon+0x100/0x250 [ 21.143315] try_to_unmap+0xa0/0xc8 [ 21.143441] shrink_folio_list+0x59c/0x18a8 [ 21.143759] shrink_lruvec+0x664/0xbf0 [ 21.144043] shrink_node+0x218/0x878 [ 21.144285] __node_reclaim.constprop.0+0x98/0x338 [ 21.144763] user_proactive_reclaim+0x2a4/0x340 [ 21.145056] reclaim_store+0x3c/0x60 [ 21.145216] dev_attr_store+0x20/0x40 [ 21.145585] sysfs_kf_write+0x84/0xa8 [ 21.145835] kernfs_fop_write_iter+0x130/0x1c8 [ 21.145994] vfs_write+0x2b8/0x368 [ 21.146119] ksys_write+0x70/0x110 [ 21.146240] __arm64_sys_write+0x24/0x38 [ 21.146380] invoke_syscall+0x50/0x120 [ 21.146513] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x48/0xf8 [ 21.146679] do_el0_svc+0x28/0x40 [ 21.146798] el0_svc+0x34/0x110 [ 21.146926] el0t ---truncated---
The exploitability of CVE-2026-31398 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
CVE-2026-31398 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation risks.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-31398, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-31398, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
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