---
id: CVE-2026-72375
title: 'afs: Fix reinitialisation of the inode, in particular ->lock_work'
summary: |-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

  afs: Fix reinitialisation of the inode, in particular ->lock_work

  It seems that initalising afs_vnode::lock_work a single time in the slab's
  init function isn't suffic…
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
cwe:
  - CWE-909
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a <
    2e7888bb635d9bc84359491347b236cc232ca4df
  - >-
    Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a <
    34dff35154e2fb3987ec5e0b40def14c64eadeb1
  - >-
    Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a <
    63d3f283858fae097fb09ddd4ce46bb0bc1f9d01
  - >-
    Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a <
    ebfd13c0367adb43d7c0a72f5cd7e004e60c6b28
  - >-
    Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a <
    5597fbd1e7c161914f20315a726e54025b0fdadb
  - Linux 2.6.23
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-10-16T18:48:13.426490Z'
published: '2026-08-15'
updated: '2026-10-21'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-21T12:44:44.067Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72375'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2e7888bb635d9bc84359491347b236cc232ca4df'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/34dff35154e2fb3987ec5e0b40def14c64eadeb1'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/63d3f283858fae097fb09ddd4ce46bb0bc1f9d01'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ebfd13c0367adb43d7c0a72f5cd7e004e60c6b28'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5597fbd1e7c161914f20315a726e54025b0fdadb'
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72375.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-72375'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2516462'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72375'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72375'
  - url: >-
      https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026081516-CVE-2026-72375-a181@gregkh/T
tags:
  - cve.org
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - score-dispute
epss: 0.00175
epssPercentile: 0.06967
scores:
  cna: 7.8
  vendor: 5.5
ingestedAt: '2026-10-16T19:46:24.401Z'
---

## Overview

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

afs: Fix reinitialisation of the inode, in particular ->lock_work

It seems that initalising afs_vnode::lock_work a single time in the slab's
init function isn't sufficient for work_structs.  This results in the
DEBUG_OBJECTS debugging stuff producing a warning occasionally when running
the generic/131 xfstest:

 ODEBUG: activate not available (active state 0) object: 0000000016d8760f object type: work_struct hint: afs_lock_work+0x0/0x220
 WARNING: lib/debugobjects.c:629 at debug_print_object+0x4b/0x90, CPU#3: locktest/7695
 ...
 CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 7695 Comm: locktest Tainted: G S                  7.1.0-build3+ #2771 PREEMPT
 ...
 RIP: 0010:debug_print_object+0x65/0x90
 ...
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  ? __pfx_afs_lock_work+0x10/0x10
  debug_object_activate+0x122/0x170
  insert_work+0x25/0x60
  __queue_work+0x2e0/0x340
  queue_delayed_work_on+0x48/0x70
  afs_fl_release_private+0x57/0x70
  locks_release_private+0x5c/0xa0
  locks_free_lock+0xe/0x20
  posix_lock_inode+0x55f/0x5b0
  locks_lock_inode_wait+0x81/0x140
  ? file_write_and_wait_range+0x50/0x70
  afs_lock+0xcd/0x110
  fcntl_setlk+0x10d/0x260
  do_fcntl+0x24e/0x5b0
  __do_sys_fcntl+0x6a/0x90
  do_syscall_64+0x11e/0x310
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x71/0x79

Fix this by reinitialising ->lock_work after allocating an inode.

Also, flush ->lock_work when the inode is being evicted to make sure it's
not still running.

## Affected

- `Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a < 2e7888bb635d9bc84359491347b236cc232ca4df`
- `Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a < 34dff35154e2fb3987ec5e0b40def14c64eadeb1`
- `Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a < 63d3f283858fae097fb09ddd4ce46bb0bc1f9d01`
- `Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a < ebfd13c0367adb43d7c0a72f5cd7e004e60c6b28`
- `Linux >= e8d6c554126b830217c5e9f549e0e21f865a0a8a < 5597fbd1e7c161914f20315a726e54025b0fdadb`
- `Linux 2.6.23`

## Remediation

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

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · updated 2026-10-16 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72375.json)