CVE-2026-89986

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mempolicy: fix sleeping allocation in alloc_pages_bulk_weighted_interleave() syzbot reported a sleeping function called from invalid context splat in bucket_table_alloc(). When rhashtable_insert_slow() rehashes the table under rcu_read_lock(), it calls bucket_table_alloc(..., GFP_ATOMIC | __GFP_NOWARN). If the bucket table allocation uses vmalloc, __vmalloc_node_range_noprof() invokes vm_area_alloc_pages() -> alloc_pages_bulk_mempolicy_noprof() with the passed GFP_ATOMIC flags. If the current task has an MPOL_WEIGHTED_INTERLEAVE mempolicy, alloc_pages_bulk_weighted_interleave() is called and currently hardcodes GFP_KERNEL when allocating the temporary weights array, triggering a might_alloc() splat in atomic/RCU contexts. Pass the gfp flags (masked with GFP_RECLAIM_MASK to strip page-allocator zone modifiers like __GFP_HIGHMEM) received by alloc_pages_bulk_weighted_interleave() to kmalloc() instead of hardcoding GFP_KERNEL. Since the weights buffer is immediately initialized in full, kmalloc() is sufficient.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

1. 2026-09-16 11:17 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-19 09:18 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Details

Published

2026-09-16 11:17 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-19 09:18 UTC

Exploit probability

0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days

Record status

Received

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.8

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High