CVE-2026-72368

HIGHPre-NVD 7.87.8
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score 7.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2026-08-15. a secondary CVSS source baseline 7.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, secondary
Trending — 5 sources updated this week
7.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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

cachefiles: Fix double unlock in nomem_d_alloc error path

When start_creating() fails and returns -ENOMEM, it has already released the parent directory lock in __start_dirop():

static struct dentry *__start_dirop(...) { ... inode_lock_nested(dir, I_MUTEX_PARENT); dentry = lookup_one_qstr_excl(name, parent, lookup_flags); if (IS_ERR(dentry)) inode_unlock(dir); <-- Lock released on error return dentry; }

However, the nomem_d_alloc error path in cachefiles_get_directory() unconditionally calls inode_unlock(d_inode(dir)) again, causing a double unlock that corrupts the rwsem state.

This is a leftover from commit 7ab96df840e60 which replaced manual locking with start_creating() but failed to update the nomem_d_alloc path (while correctly updating mkdir_error and lookup_error paths).

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
7.8(high)
EG Risk
40(Track)
EG Risk 40/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity78% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
0%
EPSS %ILE
6%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 15, 2026

Last Modified

August 17, 2026

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Aug 17, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

cachefiles: Fix double unlock in nomem_d_alloc error path - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c256fba2b46020004201c500b2a1fbc707a33ef
generic

cachefiles: Fix double unlock in nomem_d_alloc error path - kernel/git/stable/linux.git - Linux kernel stable tree

https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/26757dac15175f2a42e3537f1ba86e62456d48f1

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-72368(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 32× in last 7d / 32× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-08-21 01:15 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-08-21 01:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-08-20 22:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-20 14:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-08-20 02:47 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-08-20 02:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-08-19 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-08-19 15:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-08-19 04:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-08-18 17:00 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-08-18 17:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-08-18 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-08-18 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-08-18 04:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-08-17 17:44 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-08-17 17:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-08-17 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-08-17 06:29 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-08-17 06:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-08-17 05:58 UTCEG score recompute 7.80
  21. 2026-08-17 05:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-08-17 05:54 UTCMITRE cvelistV5CVSS v3 → 7.8 · severity → HIGH
  23. 2026-08-17 05:30 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-08-17 05:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-08-17 05:24 UTCMITRE cvelistV5
Show 7 more
  1. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-16 02:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-15 06:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-08-15 06:23 UTCNVD update
  6. 2026-08-15 06:06 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-08-15 06:02 UTCMITRE cvelistV5first tracked

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-72368?
CVE-2026-72368 is a high vulnerability published on August 15, 2026. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cachefiles: Fix double unlock in nomemdalloc error path When start_creating() fails and returns -ENOMEM, it has already released the parent directory lock in start_dirop(): static struct dentry *start_dirop(...) { ...…
When was CVE-2026-72368 disclosed?
CVE-2026-72368 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 15, 2026, with the most recent update on August 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-72368 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-72368 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 93.8% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-72368?
CVE-2026-72368 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-72368?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-72368, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2026-72368

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