---
id: CVE-2026-93172
title: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  mm/mm_init: handle alloc_percpu failure in free_area_init_core_hotplug

  We miss a failed allocation check for pgdat->per_cpu_nodestats, which
  results in a NULL deref wh…
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  mm/mm_init: handle alloc_percpu failure in free_area_init_core_hotplug

  We miss a failed allocation check for pgdat->per_cpu_nodestats, which
  results in a NULL deref wh…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 75ef7184053989118d3814c558a9af62e7376a58 <
    4cc5caef9a8d1894dfa31d84a0daa0ac1437dadc
  - >-
    Linux >= 75ef7184053989118d3814c558a9af62e7376a58 <
    bc3b5e6519b8df22d622a03eab6772784da97db4
  - >-
    Linux >= 75ef7184053989118d3814c558a9af62e7376a58 <
    1017fe1c7f48e511c5a680e3057005daaff2f3a2
  - >-
    Linux >= 75ef7184053989118d3814c558a9af62e7376a58 <
    2ebce860bdd7ae5e13002811bc9bbbf33fcfc221
  - Linux 4.8
published: '2026-09-17'
updated: '2026-09-17'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-17T17:18:12.943'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-93172'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1017fe1c7f48e511c5a680e3057005daaff2f3a2'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ebce860bdd7ae5e13002811bc9bbbf33fcfc221'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4cc5caef9a8d1894dfa31d84a0daa0ac1437dadc'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bc3b5e6519b8df22d622a03eab6772784da97db4'
    label: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-17T16:21:47.731Z'
epss: 0.002
epssPercentile: 0.087
---

## Overview

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

mm/mm_init: handle alloc_percpu failure in free_area_init_core_hotplug

We miss a failed allocation check for pgdat->per_cpu_nodestats, which
results in a NULL deref when we offset into the per-cpu area.

Propagate -ENOMEM up the stack and leave per_cpu_nodestats pointing
at boot_nodestats so a later online can retry the allocation.

hotadd_init_pgdat() returns NULL on failure, which __try_online_node()
already maps to -ENOMEM.

On failure nothing needs to be unwound:
  - the node is never marked online
  - per_cpu_nodestats is left pointing at boot_nodestats
  - __add_memory_resource() cleans up pending memblock resources
  - later online attempts retry the per_cpu_nodestats allocation

## Remediation

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