In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm/hugetlb: restore failed global reservations to subpool
Commit a833a693a490 ("mm: hugetlb: fix incorrect fallback for subpool")
fixed an underflow error for hstate->resv_huge_pages caused by incorrectly
attributing globally requested pages to the subpool's reservation.
Unfortunately, this fix also introduced the opposite problem, which would
leave spool->used_hpages elevated if the globally requested pages could
not be acquired. This is because while a subpool's reserve pages only
accounts for what is requested and allocated from the subpool, its "used"
counter keeps track of what is consumed in total, both from the subpool
and globally. Thus, we need to adjust spool->used_hpages in the other
direction, and make sure that globally requested pages are uncharged from
the subpool's used counter.
Each failed allocation attempt increments the used_hpages counter by how
many pages were requested from the global pool. Ultimately, this renders
the subpool unusable, as used_hpages approaches the max limit.
The issue can be reproduced as follows:
1. Allocate 4 hugetlb pages
2. Create a hugetlb mount with max=4, min=2
3. Consume 2 pages globally
4. Request 3 pages from the subpool (2 from subpool + 1 from global)
4.1 hugepage_subpool_get_pages(spool, 3) succeeds.
used_hpages += 3
4.2 hugetlb_acct_memory(h, 1) fails: no global pages left
used_hpages -= 2
5. Subpool now has used_hpages = 1, despite not being able to
successfully allocate any hugepages. It believes it can now only
allocate 3 more hugepages, not 4.
With each failed allocation attempt incrementing the used counter, the
subpool eventually reaches a point where its used counter equals its
max counter. At that point, any future allocations that try to
allocate hugeTLB pages from the subpool will fail, despite the subpool
not having any of its hugeTLB pages consumed by any user.
Once this happens, there is no way to make the subpool usable again,
since there is no way to decrement the used counter as no process is
really consuming the hugeTLB pages.
The underflow issue that the original commit fixes still remains fixed
as well.
Without this fix, used_hpages would keep on leaking if
hugetlb_acct_memory() fails.
mm/hugetlb: restore failed global reservations to subpool
Commit a833a693a490 ("mm: hugetlb: fix incorrect fallback for subpool")
fixed an underflow error for hstate->resv_huge_pages caused by incorrectly
attributing globally requested pages to the subpool's reservation.
Unfortunately, this fix also introduced the opposite problem, which would
leave spool->used_hpages elevated if the globally requested pages could
not be acquired. This is because while a subpool's reserve pages only
accounts for what is requested and allocated from the subpool, its "used"
counter keeps track of what is consumed in total, both from the subpool
and globally. Thus, we need to adjust spool->used_hpages in the other
direction, and make sure that globally requested pages are uncharged from
the subpool's used counter.
Each failed allocation attempt increments the used_hpages counter by how
many pages were requested from the global pool. Ultimately, this renders
the subpool unusable, as used_hpages approaches the max limit.
The issue can be reproduced as follows:
1. Allocate 4 hugetlb pages
2. Create a hugetlb mount with max=4, min=2
3. Consume 2 pages globally
4. Request 3 pages from the subpool (2 from subpool + 1 from global)
4.1 hugepage_subpool_get_pages(spool, 3) succeeds.
used_hpages += 3
4.2 hugetlb_acct_memory(h, 1) fails: no global pages left
used_hpages -= 2
5. Subpool now has used_hpages = 1, despite not being able to
successfully allocate any hugepages. It believes it can now only
allocate 3 more hugepages, not 4.
With each failed allocation attempt incrementing the used counter, the
subpool eventually reaches a point where its used counter equals its
max counter. At that point, any future allocations that try to
allocate hugeTLB pages from the subpool will fail, despite the subpool
not having any of its hugeTLB pages consumed by any user.
Once this happens, there is no way to make the subpool usable again,
since there is no way to decrement the used counter as no process is
really consuming the hugeTLB pages.
The underflow issue that the original commit fixes still remains fixed
as well.
Without this fix, used_hpages would keep on leaking if
hugetlb_acct_memory() fails.
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
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| Linux | Linux | affected |
|
No data.
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Advisories
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Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Fri, 08 May 2026 13:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/hugetlb: restore failed global reservations to subpool Commit a833a693a490 ("mm: hugetlb: fix incorrect fallback for subpool") fixed an underflow error for hstate->resv_huge_pages caused by incorrectly attributing globally requested pages to the subpool's reservation. Unfortunately, this fix also introduced the opposite problem, which would leave spool->used_hpages elevated if the globally requested pages could not be acquired. This is because while a subpool's reserve pages only accounts for what is requested and allocated from the subpool, its "used" counter keeps track of what is consumed in total, both from the subpool and globally. Thus, we need to adjust spool->used_hpages in the other direction, and make sure that globally requested pages are uncharged from the subpool's used counter. Each failed allocation attempt increments the used_hpages counter by how many pages were requested from the global pool. Ultimately, this renders the subpool unusable, as used_hpages approaches the max limit. The issue can be reproduced as follows: 1. Allocate 4 hugetlb pages 2. Create a hugetlb mount with max=4, min=2 3. Consume 2 pages globally 4. Request 3 pages from the subpool (2 from subpool + 1 from global) 4.1 hugepage_subpool_get_pages(spool, 3) succeeds. used_hpages += 3 4.2 hugetlb_acct_memory(h, 1) fails: no global pages left used_hpages -= 2 5. Subpool now has used_hpages = 1, despite not being able to successfully allocate any hugepages. It believes it can now only allocate 3 more hugepages, not 4. With each failed allocation attempt incrementing the used counter, the subpool eventually reaches a point where its used counter equals its max counter. At that point, any future allocations that try to allocate hugeTLB pages from the subpool will fail, despite the subpool not having any of its hugeTLB pages consumed by any user. Once this happens, there is no way to make the subpool usable again, since there is no way to decrement the used counter as no process is really consuming the hugeTLB pages. The underflow issue that the original commit fixes still remains fixed as well. Without this fix, used_hpages would keep on leaking if hugetlb_acct_memory() fails. | |
| Title | mm/hugetlb: restore failed global reservations to subpool | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-05-08T13:11:11.867Z
Reserved: 2026-05-01T14:12:55.999Z
Link: CVE-2026-43286
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-05-08T14:16:35.473
Modified: 2026-05-08T14:16:35.473
Link: CVE-2026-43286
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
No weakness.