CVE-2026-43303

mm/page_alloc: clear page->private in free_pages_prepare()

Published May 8, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 7.8 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/page_alloc: clear page->private in free_pages_prepare()

Several subsystems (slub, shmem, ttm, etc.) use page->private but don't
clear it before freeing pages. When these pages are later allocated as
high-order pages and split via split_page(), tail pages retain stale
page->private values.

This causes a use-after-free in the swap subsystem. The swap code uses
page->private to track swap count continuations, assuming freshly
allocated pages have page->private == 0. When stale values are present,
swap_count_continued() incorrectly assumes the continuation list is valid
and iterates over uninitialized page->lru containing LIST_POISON values,
causing a crash:

KASAN: maybe wild-memory-access in range [0xdead000000000100-0xdead000000000107]
RIP: 0010:__do_sys_swapoff+0x1151/0x1860

Fix this by clearing page->private in free_pages_prepare(), ensuring all
freed pages have clean state regardless of previous use.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4665-1 linux security update
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4671-1 linux-6.1 security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6355-1 linux security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8781-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA Tegra) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8903-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8904-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8905-1 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8906-1 Linux kernel (IBM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8903-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8905-2 Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9025-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9066-1 Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-457
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-416
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.18:rc9:*:*:*:*:*:*
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics 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'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-909
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

Important

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/page_alloc: clear page->private in free_pages_prepare() Several subsystems (slub, shmem, ttm, etc.) use page->private but don't clear it before freeing pages. When these pages are later allocated as high-order pages and split via split_page(), tail pages retain stale page->private values. This causes a use-after-free in the swap subsystem. The swap code uses page->private to track swap count continuations, assuming freshly allocated pages have page->private == 0. When stale values are present, swap_count_continued() incorrectly assumes the continuation list is valid and iterates over uninitialized page->lru containing LIST_POISON values, causing a crash: KASAN: maybe wild-memory-access in range [0xdead000000000100-0xdead000000000107] RIP: 0010:__do_sys_swapoff+0x1151/0x1860 Fix this by clearing page->private in free_pages_prepare(), ensuring all freed pages have clean state regardless of previous use.
Title mm/page_alloc: clear page->private in free_pages_prepare()
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Nov 10, 2026, 12:46 PM
Reserved
May 1, 2026, 2:12 PM
Status
Modified
Published
May 8, 2026, 2:16 PM
Modified
Nov 11, 2026, 8:10 PM
Severity
Important
Public date
May 8, 2026, 12:00 AM