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Unscored CVE-2026-72016 EUVD-2026-59115GHSA-jpp3-3v9r-hwrp

cpu/hotplug: Fix NULL kobject warning in cpuhp_smt_enable()

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 17, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.14 Package: linux-aws-6.17 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-aws-7.0 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.14 Package: linux-azure-6.17 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-7.0 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.14 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.17 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fde-7.0 Package: linux-azure-nvidia-6.14 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.14 Package: linux-gcp-6.17 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gcp-7.0 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.14 Package: linux-hwe-6.17 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-7.0 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-ibm Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia Package: linux-nvidia-6.11 Package: linux-nvidia-6.17 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-7.0 Package: linux-nvidia-bos Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.14 Package: linux-oem-6.17 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oem-7.0 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.14 Package: linux-oracle-6.17 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-oracle-7.0 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-realtime-6.14 Package: linux-realtime-6.17 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.14 Package: linux-riscv-6.17 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-riscv-7.0 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Package: linux-vmware Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

cpu/hotplug: Fix NULL kobject warning in cpuhp_smt_enable()

On arm64, when booting with `maxcpus` greater than the number of present
CPUs (e.g., QEMU -smp cpus=4,maxcpus=8), some CPUs are marked as 'present'
but have not yet been registered via register_cpu(). Consequently,
the per-cpu device objects for these CPUs are not yet initialized.

In cpuhp_smt_enable(), the code iterates over all present CPUs. Calling
_cpu_up() for these unregistered CPUs eventually leads to
sysfs_create_group() being called with a NULL kobject (or a kobject
without a directory), triggering the following warning in
fs/sysfs/group.c:

WARNING: fs/sysfs/group.c:137 at internal_create_group+0x41c/0x4bc, CPU#2: sh/181
[...]
Call trace:
internal_create_group+0x41c/0x4bc (P)
sysfs_create_group+0x18/0x24
topology_add_dev+0x1c/0x28
cpuhp_invoke_callback+0x104/0x20c
__cpuhp_invoke_callback_range+0x94/0x11c
_cpu_up+0x200/0x37c

When booting with ACPI, arm64 smp_prepare_cpus() currently sets all
enumerated CPUs as "present" regardless of their status in the MADT. This
causes issues with SMT hotplug control. For instance, with QEMU's
"-smp 4,maxcpus=8" configuration, the MADT GICC entries are populated as
follows:

1. The first four CPUs: `Enabled` set but `Online Capable` not set.

2. The remaining four CPUs: `Online Capable` set but `Enabled` not set
to support potential hot-plugging.

Fix this by:

1. When booting with ACPI, checking the ACPI_MADT_ENABLED flag in the GICC
entry before calling set_cpu_present() during SMP initialization.

2. Properly managing the present mask in acpi_map_cpu() and
acpi_unmap_cpu() to support actual CPU hotplug events, This aligns with
other architectures like x86 and LoongArch.

3. Update the arm64 CPU hotplug documentation to no longer state that all
online-capable vCPUs are marked as present by the kernel at boot time.

This ensures that only physically available or explicitly enabled CPUs
are in the present mask, keeping the SMT control logic consistent with
the actual hardware state.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 6.15 6.18.40

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 7.1.5-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux 7.0.0-38.38 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-aws +1 7.0.0-1014.14 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure 7.0.0-1017.17 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-azure-fde 7.0.0-1016.16 USN-8888-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-gke 7.0.0-1008.9 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-ibm +1 7.0.0-1015.15 USN-8889-1, USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia +1 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-nvidia-bos 7.0.0-2022.23 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-oracle 7.0.0-1013.13 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-raspi 7.0.0-1023.23 USN-9021-1
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS linux-riscv +1 7.0.0-38.38.1 USN-8887-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-aws-7.0 +1 7.0.0-1014.14~24.04.1 USN-8887-3, USN-8887-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-7.0 7.0.0-1017.17~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-azure-fde-7.0 7.0.0-1016.16~24.04.1 USN-8888-2
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-hwe-7.0 7.0.0-38.38~24.04.4 USN-8887-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-nvidia-7.0 7.0.0-1024.25~24.04.1 USN-9003-1
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-oracle-7.0 7.0.0-1013.13~24.04.1 USN-8887-3
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv +27 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-riscv-7.0 7.0.0-38.38.1~24.04.1 —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS linux-realtime-6.14 +1 No fix yet —

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.18.41-94.142 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-2071
Amazon Linux 2023 perf6.18 +12 1:6.18.41-94.142.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-2071

Advisories 10

References