---
id: CVE-2026-53062
title: 'dm cache policy smq: fix missing locks in invalidating cache blocks'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  dm cache policy smq: fix missing locks in invalidating cache blocks

  In passthrough mode, the policy invalidate_mapping operation is called
  simultaneously from multiple…
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    4991b5a08751e2e82488fb93ae08849b6aea10d9
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    1b2bec4a7dcf5f00b7a1cbeeec8997841d783513
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    9a5fdfb9e57ec3a8ad2b8fce5e5ffa42d53b130e
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    ac5ee99443891bdb161f5539606a66a1b5e72542
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    93627a29d4b66d4a2def938dfb8610cc80ae454b
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    c348ae47d8e65f06429fa41adce9ad986b696766
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    2b62d0611c9af14a16bddf22df2612b4f40eb5a1
  - >-
    Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f <
    2d1f7b65f5deedd2e6b09fdc6ea27f8375f24b45
  - Linux 4.12
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-10-16T15:24:58.631300Z'
published: '2026-06-24'
updated: '2026-10-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-16T15:31:29.953Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53062'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4991b5a08751e2e82488fb93ae08849b6aea10d9'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1b2bec4a7dcf5f00b7a1cbeeec8997841d783513'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9a5fdfb9e57ec3a8ad2b8fce5e5ffa42d53b130e'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac5ee99443891bdb161f5539606a66a1b5e72542'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93627a29d4b66d4a2def938dfb8610cc80ae454b'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c348ae47d8e65f06429fa41adce9ad986b696766'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2b62d0611c9af14a16bddf22df2612b4f40eb5a1'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2d1f7b65f5deedd2e6b09fdc6ea27f8375f24b45'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00097
epssPercentile: 0.00699
ingestedAt: '2026-10-16T17:24:46.728Z'
---

## Overview

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

dm cache policy smq: fix missing locks in invalidating cache blocks

In passthrough mode, the policy invalidate_mapping operation is called
simultaneously from multiple workers, thus it should be protected by a
lock. Otherwise, we might end up with data races on the allocated blocks
counter, or even use-after-free issues with internal data structures
when doing concurrent writes.

Note that the existing FIXME in smq_invalidate_mapping() doesn't affect
passthrough mode since migration tasks don't exist there, but would need
attention if supporting fast device shrinking via suspend/resume without
target reloading.

Reproduce steps:

1. Create a cache device consisting of 1024 cache entries

dmsetup create cmeta --table "0 8192 linear /dev/sdc 0"
dmsetup create cdata --table "0 131072 linear /dev/sdc 8192"
dmsetup create corig --table "0 262144 linear /dev/sdc 262144"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/mapper/cmeta bs=4k count=1 oflag=direct
dmsetup create cache --table "0 262144 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \
/dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 2 metadata2 writethrough smq 0"

2. Populate the cache, and record the number of cached blocks

fio --name=populate --filename=/dev/mapper/cache --rw=randwrite --bs=4k \
--size=64m --direct=1
nr_cached=$(dmsetup status cache | awk '{split($7, a, "/"); print a[1]}')

3. Reload the cache into passthrough mode

dmsetup suspend cache
dmsetup reload cache --table "0 262144 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \
/dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 2 metadata2 passthrough smq 0"
dmsetup resume cache

4. Write to the passthrough cache. By setting multiple jobs with I/O
   size equal to the cache block size, cache blocks are invalidated
   concurrently from different workers.

fio --filename=/dev/mapper/cache --name=test --rw=randwrite --bs=64k \
--direct=1 --numjobs=2 --randrepeat=0 --size=64m

5. Check if demoted matches cached block count. These numbers should
   match but may differ due to the data race.

nr_demoted=$(dmsetup status cache | awk '{print $12}')
echo "$nr_cached, $nr_demoted"

## Affected

- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < 4991b5a08751e2e82488fb93ae08849b6aea10d9`
- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < 1b2bec4a7dcf5f00b7a1cbeeec8997841d783513`
- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < 9a5fdfb9e57ec3a8ad2b8fce5e5ffa42d53b130e`
- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < ac5ee99443891bdb161f5539606a66a1b5e72542`
- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < 93627a29d4b66d4a2def938dfb8610cc80ae454b`
- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < c348ae47d8e65f06429fa41adce9ad986b696766`
- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < 2b62d0611c9af14a16bddf22df2612b4f40eb5a1`
- `Linux >= b29d4986d0da1a27cd35917cdb433672f5c95d7f < 2d1f7b65f5deedd2e6b09fdc6ea27f8375f24b45`
- `Linux 4.12`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.