---
id: CVE-2026-53060
title: 'dm cache metadata: fix memory leak on metadata abort retry'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  dm cache metadata: fix memory leak on metadata abort retry

  When failing to acquire the root_lock in dm_cache_metadata_abort because
  the block_manager is read-only, the…
severity: none
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= b45e77b79215405bd039a690f5b06cc03e8ed27d <
    14f60e957f34f95a626caec76a8fae88cf4c397f
  - >-
    Linux >= 28d307f380df88a598bc0186d527462902d9bda1 <
    6b97cc7a42905755c56bbddc33aa8b792205caee
  - >-
    Linux >= f74b7c5a85e22cd9091845e0d62a1dd89d0f855f <
    d1a79620c419a0af1911f99c873014b30740e303
  - >-
    Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 <
    15c30997dca681f90dbf2d45ee629c1828bf0c0d
  - >-
    Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 <
    b0bd35535bdb6f58505f3a30ee5793986943997a
  - >-
    Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 <
    322a3b70368d49e39591fe9fc6c07d262128b05f
  - >-
    Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 <
    4311ca59a1891d33c4c8b7946f98c34f167fe833
  - >-
    Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 <
    044ca491d4086dc5bf233e9fcb71db52df32f633
  - Linux 6e237cacda8b4e976849e7bff9fe7dff0e968586
  - Linux 3972ae47d0ee9b5b434af5d0cca6cdfd1e239d4f
  - Linux 9958f5ffc44530b650fb4cc9038a4d167fa4f5c1
  - Linux f472bfc95d9c9653172dbdad39219b32fabf9b92
  - Linux bdd4e106929ac943f3226d8f03754b480701e97b
  - Linux >= 5.10.163 < 5.10.258
  - Linux >= 5.15.87 < 5.15.209
  - Linux >= 6.1.4 < 6.1.175
  - Linux >= 4.9.337 < 4.10
  - Linux >= 4.14.303 < 4.15
  - Linux >= 4.19.270 < 4.20
  - Linux >= 5.4.229 < 5.5
  - Linux >= 6.0.18 < 6.1
  - Linux 6.2
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-06T16:17:26.429012Z'
published: '2026-06-24'
updated: '2026-11-06'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-06T16:23:57.401Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53060'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/14f60e957f34f95a626caec76a8fae88cf4c397f'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b97cc7a42905755c56bbddc33aa8b792205caee'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d1a79620c419a0af1911f99c873014b30740e303'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/15c30997dca681f90dbf2d45ee629c1828bf0c0d'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b0bd35535bdb6f58505f3a30ee5793986943997a'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/322a3b70368d49e39591fe9fc6c07d262128b05f'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4311ca59a1891d33c4c8b7946f98c34f167fe833'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/044ca491d4086dc5bf233e9fcb71db52df32f633'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00128
epssPercentile: 0.02472
ingestedAt: '2026-11-06T16:57:43.300Z'
---

## Overview

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

dm cache metadata: fix memory leak on metadata abort retry

When failing to acquire the root_lock in dm_cache_metadata_abort because
the block_manager is read-only, the temporary block_manager created
outside the root_lock is not properly released, causing a memory leak.

Reproduce steps:

This can be reproduced by reloading a new table while the metadata
is read-only. While the second call to dm_cache_metadata_abort is
caused by lack of support for table preload in dm-cache, mentioned
in commit 9b1cc9f251af ("dm cache: share cache-metadata object across
inactive and active DM tables"), it exposes the memory leak in
dm_cache_metadata_abort when the function is called multiple times.
Specifically, dm-cache fails to sync the new cache object's mode during
preresume, creating the reproducer condition.

This issue could also occur through concurrent metadata_operation_failed
calls due to races in cache mode updates, but the table preload scenario
below provides a reliable reproducer.

1. Create a cache device with some faulty trailing metadata blocks

dmsetup create cmeta <<EOF
0 200 linear /dev/sdc 0
200 7992 error
EOF
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 131072 cache /dev/mapper/cmeta \
/dev/mapper/cdata /dev/mapper/corig 128 1 writethrough smq 0"

2. Suspend and resume the cache to start a new metadata transaction and
   trigger metadata io errors on the next metadata commit.

dmsetup suspend cache
dmsetup resume cache

3. Write to the cache device to update metadata

fio --filename=/dev/mapper/cache --name test --rw=randwrite --bs=4k \
--randrepeat=0 --direct=1 --size 64k

4. Preload the same table

dmsetup reload cache --table "$(dmsetup table cache)"

5. Resume the new table. This triggers the memory leak.

dmsetup suspend cache
dmsetup resume cache

kmemleak logs:

<snip>
unreferenced object 0xffff8880080c2010 (size 16):
  comm "dmsetup", pid 132, jiffies 4294982580
  hex dump (first 16 bytes):
    00 38 b9 07 80 88 ff ff 6a 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b 6b a5 ...
  backtrace (crc 3118f31c):
    kmemleak_alloc+0x28/0x40
    __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x3d9/0x510
    dm_block_manager_create+0x51/0x140
    dm_cache_metadata_abort+0x85/0x320
    metadata_operation_failed+0x103/0x1e0
    cache_preresume+0xacd/0xe70
    dm_table_resume_targets+0xd3/0x320
    __dm_resume+0x1b/0xf0
    dm_resume+0x127/0x170
<snip>

## Affected

- `Linux >= b45e77b79215405bd039a690f5b06cc03e8ed27d < 14f60e957f34f95a626caec76a8fae88cf4c397f`
- `Linux >= 28d307f380df88a598bc0186d527462902d9bda1 < 6b97cc7a42905755c56bbddc33aa8b792205caee`
- `Linux >= f74b7c5a85e22cd9091845e0d62a1dd89d0f855f < d1a79620c419a0af1911f99c873014b30740e303`
- `Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 < 15c30997dca681f90dbf2d45ee629c1828bf0c0d`
- `Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 < b0bd35535bdb6f58505f3a30ee5793986943997a`
- `Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 < 322a3b70368d49e39591fe9fc6c07d262128b05f`
- `Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 < 4311ca59a1891d33c4c8b7946f98c34f167fe833`
- `Linux >= 352b837a5541690d4f843819028cf2b8be83d424 < 044ca491d4086dc5bf233e9fcb71db52df32f633`
- `Linux 6e237cacda8b4e976849e7bff9fe7dff0e968586`
- `Linux 3972ae47d0ee9b5b434af5d0cca6cdfd1e239d4f`
- `Linux 9958f5ffc44530b650fb4cc9038a4d167fa4f5c1`
- `Linux f472bfc95d9c9653172dbdad39219b32fabf9b92`
- `Linux bdd4e106929ac943f3226d8f03754b480701e97b`
- `Linux >= 5.10.163 < 5.10.258`
- `Linux >= 5.15.87 < 5.15.209`
- `Linux >= 6.1.4 < 6.1.175`
- `Linux >= 4.9.337 < 4.10`
- `Linux >= 4.14.303 < 4.15`
- `Linux >= 4.19.270 < 4.20`
- `Linux >= 5.4.229 < 5.5`
- `Linux >= 6.0.18 < 6.1`
- `Linux 6.2`

## Remediation

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