CVE-2026-72494
Linux kernel irdma race condition patched to prevent crashes and privilege escalation
Is CVE-2026-72494 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-72494 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 0.41% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-72494?
CVE-2026-72494 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. 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-2026-72494?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-72494. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-72494 affect?
CVE-2026-72494 affects Linux kernel (irdma RDMA driver), Intel iWARP/irdma devices, Enterprise Linux distributions with irdma enabled. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-72494?
Install kernel update that patches irdma and reboot affected hosts.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Race in irdma RDMA driver may let local or RDMA-capable attackers trigger kernel crash or escalate to root via memory-ordering bug.
Patch when possible
- affected>= 44d9e52977a1b90b0db1c7f8b197c218e9226520 and < bde37aed0724c0139dea177f3aae8d989b6babb1
- affected>= 44d9e52977a1b90b0db1c7f8b197c218e9226520 and < d9c8c45e6d2f438a3c8e643ae78b59454fa0fadd
- affected5.14
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.