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

dm era: fix NULL pointer dereference in metadata_open()

metadata_open() returns NULL when kzalloc_obj() fails, but the
caller era_ctr() only checks IS_ERR(md). Since IS_ERR(NULL)
returns false, the NULL pointer is treated as a valid result
and later assigned to era->md, leading to a NULL pointer
dereference when the metadata is accessed.

Fix this by returning ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) on allocation failure,
consistent with dm-cache-metadata.c, dm-thin-metadata.c, and
dm-clone-metadata.c which all use ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) for the
same pattern.
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low


Sat, 15 Aug 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-476

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm era: fix NULL pointer dereference in metadata_open() metadata_open() returns NULL when kzalloc_obj() fails, but the caller era_ctr() only checks IS_ERR(md). Since IS_ERR(NULL) returns false, the NULL pointer is treated as a valid result and later assigned to era->md, leading to a NULL pointer dereference when the metadata is accessed. Fix this by returning ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) on allocation failure, consistent with dm-cache-metadata.c, dm-thin-metadata.c, and dm-clone-metadata.c which all use ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM) for the same pattern.
Title dm era: fix NULL pointer dereference in metadata_open()
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

Sign in to view the affected projects.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-17T05:12:21.813Z

Reserved: 2026-08-09T03:40:39.919Z

Link: CVE-2026-72316

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-15T06:22:04.503

Modified: 2026-08-17T06:18:34.890

Link: CVE-2026-72316

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Low

Publid Date: 2026-08-15T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-72316 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-22T07:15:04Z

Weaknesses