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CVE-2026-72420

HIGH
High
EPSS 0.45%Patch availableAug 17, 2026

Race in Linux md/raid5 can cause I/O deadlock and kernel hangs.

common questions

Is CVE-2026-72420 being exploited?

Not confirmed. CVE-2026-72420 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.45% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How severe is CVE-2026-72420?

CVE-2026-72420 is rated High. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2026-72420?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-72420. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2026-72420 affect?

CVE-2026-72420 affects Linux kernel md/raid5 module, Servers using software RAID5 (md). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

What should I do about CVE-2026-72420?

Update Linux kernel to the patched release; avoid heavy RAID5 I/O until patched.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

executive summary
technical analysis
affected
Linux kernel md/raid5 moduleServers using software RAID5 (md)
impact

Race condition causes wait_on_bit to hang, producing I/O deadlock, kernel thread hang, DoS and potential RAID5 data corruption on affected hosts.

action required

Patch when possible

affected versions
Linux Linux
  • affected>= fb642b92c267beeefd352af9bc461eac93a7552c and < 8031b0d02bd221a5f9add4357e291fc2a527b83a
  • affected>= fb642b92c267beeefd352af9bc461eac93a7552c and < 4d919c9b770996365806b6c8d701912d52baa306
  • affected>= fb642b92c267beeefd352af9bc461eac93a7552c and < d684b72dfbd320623ccaab0779aa841190488e7c
  • affected>= fb642b92c267beeefd352af9bc461eac93a7552c and < 55b77337bdd088c77461588e5ec094421b89911b
  • affected4.1
vendor says fixed in< 4.1, >= 6.12.97 and <= 6.12.*, >= 6.18.40 and <= 6.18.*, >= 7.1.5 and <= 7.1.*, >= 7.2 and <= *

As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.

how to fix
Remediation steps are tailored for users whose stack is affected. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
references
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