GHSA-36HF-5688-V4HM
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-17 18:32 – Updated: 2026-09-17 18:32In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
memcg: move LRU size accounting on reparenting instead of copying it
When a memory cgroup is offlined its LRU folios are reparented to the parent. lruvec_reparent_lru() splices the child's lists into the parent's and credits the parent with the child's per-zone lru_zone_size[], but never clears the child's copy, so the size is copied rather than moved. lru_gen_reparent_memcg() does the same for MGLRU.
The parent is left correct, credited with exactly the folios it took over. The stale value sits on the child and nothing will correct it: folio->memcg_data now resolves to the parent, so every later update_lru_size() for those folios goes there.
Dying cgroups are not freed immediately and mem_cgroup_iter() still walks them, so shrink_lruvec() keeps being called on them. get_scan_count() reads the phantom counter through lruvec_lru_size() and the scan loop then grinds through nr[] in SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX steps against an empty list, for as long as the dead cgroup lives. Under MGLRU the MGLRU scanner runs instead, but count_shadow_nodes() sums all of NR_LRU_LISTS through lruvec_lru_size() and over-budgets the shadow node limit just the same.
On one 251 GiB host a sweep of every mz->lru_zone_size[] found 380 counters describing folios on no list at all: 124777314 pages, 476 GiB, 1.89x the machine's RAM, across 57 cgroups. All were on memcgs with CSS_DYING set and CSS_ONLINE clear, and parent/child pairs reported byte-identical sizes.
LRU_UNEVICTABLE needs its size moved too. Its list is deliberately not spliced because lruvec_init() poisons the head - the unevictable LRU is imaginary and folios are never threaded on it - but the size is kept by lruvec_add_folio()/lruvec_del_folio() and those folios account to the parent from here on.
This depends on commit bf4ade7dbd76 ("memcg: keep folio's objcg same as its node") and must not be backported ahead of it. Without that invariant a folio's objcg can belong to another node, so a folio already spliced onto the parent's list can still resolve to the child's lruvec until the objcg's node is reparented in a later iteration of memcg_reparent_objcgs(); clearing the child's counter early then lets lruvec_del_folio() underflow it and trip the WARN_ONCE()/VM_BUG_ON() in mem_cgroup_update_lru_size().
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-93197"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-09-17T17:18:15Z",
"severity": null
},
"details": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nmemcg: move LRU size accounting on reparenting instead of copying it\n\nWhen a memory cgroup is offlined its LRU folios are reparented to the\nparent. lruvec_reparent_lru() splices the child\u0027s lists into the\nparent\u0027s and credits the parent with the child\u0027s per-zone\nlru_zone_size[], but never clears the child\u0027s copy, so the size is\ncopied rather than moved. lru_gen_reparent_memcg() does the same for\nMGLRU.\n\nThe parent is left correct, credited with exactly the folios it took\nover. The stale value sits on the child and nothing will correct it:\nfolio-\u003ememcg_data now resolves to the parent, so every later\nupdate_lru_size() for those folios goes there.\n\nDying cgroups are not freed immediately and mem_cgroup_iter() still\nwalks them, so shrink_lruvec() keeps being called on them.\nget_scan_count() reads the phantom counter through lruvec_lru_size() and\nthe scan loop then grinds through nr[] in SWAP_CLUSTER_MAX steps against\nan empty list, for as long as the dead cgroup lives. Under MGLRU the\nMGLRU scanner runs instead, but count_shadow_nodes() sums all of\nNR_LRU_LISTS through lruvec_lru_size() and over-budgets the shadow node\nlimit just the same.\n\nOn one 251 GiB host a sweep of every mz-\u003elru_zone_size[] found 380\ncounters describing folios on no list at all: 124777314 pages, 476 GiB,\n1.89x the machine\u0027s RAM, across 57 cgroups. All were on memcgs with\nCSS_DYING set and CSS_ONLINE clear, and parent/child pairs reported\nbyte-identical sizes.\n\nLRU_UNEVICTABLE needs its size moved too. Its list is deliberately not\nspliced because lruvec_init() poisons the head - the unevictable LRU is\nimaginary and folios are never threaded on it - but the size is kept by\nlruvec_add_folio()/lruvec_del_folio() and those folios account to the\nparent from here on.\n\nThis depends on commit bf4ade7dbd76 (\"memcg: keep folio\u0027s objcg same as\nits node\") and must not be backported ahead of it. Without that\ninvariant a folio\u0027s objcg can belong to another node, so a folio already\nspliced onto the parent\u0027s list can still resolve to the child\u0027s lruvec\nuntil the objcg\u0027s node is reparented in a later iteration of\nmemcg_reparent_objcgs(); clearing the child\u0027s counter early then lets\nlruvec_del_folio() underflow it and trip the WARN_ONCE()/VM_BUG_ON() in\nmem_cgroup_update_lru_size().",
"id": "GHSA-36hf-5688-v4hm",
"modified": "2026-09-17T18:32:13Z",
"published": "2026-09-17T18:32:13Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-93197"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/007bc1842317bb99f5f6205afede940f951674c2"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0e0ac326c511d514817cc7b6d7741afd59098ce2"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
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