KEVWire

Security intelligence, with context.

Response snapshot Nov 6, 2026, 19:41 UTC

Back to the wire
Permalink
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-53109

Linux kernel: powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy powerpc uses pt_frag_refcount as a reference counter for tracking it's pte and pmd page table fragments.

At a glance

Exploited
Not known
Severity
7.8 High (CVSS 3.1)
Chance of exploitation
0.1% in the next 30 days
Sources
1 source

What to do

Check the vendor advisory for affected versions and fixes.

Read NVD CVE-2026-53109 (opens a new tab)

What happened

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

powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy

powerpc uses pt_frag_refcount as a reference counter for tracking it's pte and pmd page table fragments. For PTE table, in case of Hash with 64K pagesize, we have 16 fragments of 4K size in one 64K page.

Patch series [1] "mm: free retracted page table by RCU" added pte_free_defer() to defer the freeing of PTE tables when retract_page_tables() is called for madvise MADV_COLLAPSE on shmem range. [1]: https://lore.kernel.org/all/7cd843a9-aa80-14f-5eb2-33427363c20@google.com/

Continue reading

pte_free_defer() sets the active flag on the corresponding fragment's folio & calls pte_fragment_free(), which reduces the pt_frag_refcount. When pt_frag_refcount reaches 0 (no active fragment using the folio), it checks if the folio active flag is set, if set, it calls call_rcu to free the folio, it the active flag is unset then it calls pte_free_now().

Now, this can lead to following problem in a corner case...

[ 265.351553][ T183] BUG: Bad page state in process a.out pfn:20d62 [ 265.353555][ T183] page: refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x20d62 [ 265.355457][ T183] flags: 0x3ffff800000100(active|node=0|zone=0|lastcpupid=0x7ffff) [ 265.358719][ T183] raw: 003ffff800000100 0000000000000000 5deadbeef0000122 0000000000000000 [ 265.

360177][ T183] raw: 0000000000000000 c0000000119caf58 00000000ffffffff 0000000000000000 [ 265.361438][ T183] page dumped because: PAGE_FLAGS_CHECK_AT_FREE flag(s) set [ 265.362572][ T183] Modules linked in: [ 265.364622][ T183] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 183 Comm: a.out Not tainted 6.18.0-rc3-00141-g1ddeaaace7ff-dirty #53 VOLUNTARY [ 265.

364785][ T183] Hardware name: IBM pSeries (emulated by qemu) POWER10 (architected) 0x801200 0xf000006 of:SLOF,git-ee03ae pSeries [ 265.364908][ T183] Call Trace: [ 265.364955][ T183] [c000000011e6f7c0] [c000000001cfaa18] dump_stack_lvl+0x130/0x148 (unreliable) [ 265.365202][ T183] [c000000011e6f7f0] [c000000000794758] bad_page+0xb4/0x1c8 [ 265.

365384][ T183] [c000000011e6f890] [c00000000079c020] __free_frozen_pages+0x838/0xd08 [ 265.365554][ T183] [c000000011e6f980] [c0000000000a70ac] pte_frag_destroy+0x298/0x310 [ 265.365729][ T183] [c000000011e6fa30] [c0000000000aa764] arch_exit_mmap+0x34/0x218 [ 265.365912][ T183] [c000000011e6fa80] [c000000000751698] exit_mmap+0xb8/0x820 [ 265.

366080][ T183] [c000000011e6fc30] [c0000000001b1258] __mmput+0x98/0x300 [ 265.366244][ T183] [c000000011e6fc80] [c0000000001c81f8] do_exit+0x470/0x1508 [ 265.366421][ T183] [c000000011e6fd70] [c0000000001c95e4] do_group_exit+0x88/0x148 [ 265.366602][ T183] [c000000011e6fdc0] [c0000000001c96ec] pid_child_should_wake+0x0/0x178 [ 265.

366780][ T183] [c000000011e6fdf0] [c00000000003a270] system_call_exception+0x1b0/0x4e0 [ 265.366958][ T183] [c000000011e6fe50] [c00000000000d05c] system_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec

The bad page state error occurs when such a folio gets freed (with active flag set), from do_exit() path in parallel.

this can happen when the pte fragment was allocated from this folio, but when all the fragments get freed, the pte_frag_refcount still had some unused fragments. Now, if this process exits, with such folio as it's cached pte_frag in mm->context, then during pte_frag_destroy(), we simply call pagetable_dtor() and pagetable_free(), meaning it doesn't clear the active flag. This, can lead to the above bug.

Since we are anyway in do_exit() path, then if the refcount is 0, then I guess it should be ok to simply clear the folio active flag before calling pagetable_dtor() & pagetable_free().

Scores and how they were measured

CVSS base severity

7.8

Version 3.1As of

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Measurement source (opens a new tab)

How bad it is if exploited. Not a prediction of exploitation or proof you are exposed.

EPSS probability

0.1%

Scored Percentile 2.5%

Model and measurement source (opens a new tab)

A model's estimate of exploitation in the next 30 days, not certainty or your own risk.

Related technology

Sources

  1. Primary source

    NVD CVE-2026-53109 (opens a new tab)

    NVD record: description, CVSS (the CNA score is preferred), affected products, and publication date. Not evidence of exploitation.

    Published Checked

  2. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  3. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  4. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  5. Primary source

    FIRST measured EPSS score (opens a new tab)

    Measured EPSS probability and percentile for CVE-2026-53109, scored 2026-11-06. This is a model estimate, not proof of exposure.

    Published Checked

Cite this record

For factual claims, cite the primary sources above; cite KEVWire for its compilation, dates, and classifications.

APA

KEVWire. (2026, November 6). Linux kernel: powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy (CVE-2026-53109). https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-53109

MLA

"Linux kernel: powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy (CVE-2026-53109)." KEVWire, 6 Nov. 2026, kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-53109.

Chicago

KEVWire. "Linux kernel: powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy (CVE-2026-53109)." Last modified November 6, 2026. https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-53109.

Evidence summary (plain text)

Linux kernel: powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy (Jun 24, 2026).
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

powerpc/pgtable-frag: Fix bad page state in pte_frag_destroy

powerpc uses pt_frag_refcount as a reference counter for tracking it's
pte and pmd page table fragments. For PTE table, in case of Hash with
64K pagesize, we have 16 fragments of 4K size in one 64K page.

Patch series [1] "mm: free retracted page table by RCU"
added pte_free_defer() to defer the freeing of PTE tables when
retract_page_tables() is called for madvise MADV_COLLAPSE on shmem
range.
CVSS 7.8 (version 3.1; evidence as of Nov 6, 2026; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53109).
EPSS 0.1% for the following 30 days, scored Nov 6, 2026 (https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-53109&date=2026-11-06).
Sources:
NVD CVE-2026-53109: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53109
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-11-06T17:06:05.906Z&lastModEndDate=2026-11-06T18:35:59.598Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-11-06T16:31:13.932Z&lastModEndDate=2026-11-06T18:05:57.615Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-11-06T15:50:58.372Z&lastModEndDate=2026-11-06T17:30:57.197Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
FIRST measured EPSS score: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-53109&date=2026-11-06
Record ID: CVE-2026-53109.
Record origin: Ingested record.
AI evidence: Not assessed.
Known exploitation: Not assessed.
Zero-day status: Not assessed. KEV membership alone does not establish zero-day status.
About this data

This record was ingested from a data source. Retrieved: Nov 6, 2026, 19:36 UTC. Ingestion is not an independent editorial investigation.

NVD status: Modified. Publication in the NVD is not evidence of exploitation.

A CISA KEV listing documents known exploitation, not necessarily a zero-day; absence from the catalog does not prove a vulnerability has never been exploited.

Technology tags indicate possible relevance, not verified exposure. Confirm the affected product, version, and configuration against your own inventory; KEVWire does not scan your systems.

A personal reading checklist on this device, not verified remediation.

Record JSON

Your account

Email alerts

Email alerts are coming as part of KEVWire Premium: join the waitlist. To follow your stack today, use its RSS feed, which honors your filters, or connect an AI agent through the API.

Suggest an improvement

Ideas, missing sources, corrections, and bugs are all welcome. No account needed. Suggestions are reviewed by a person before anything changes.

Record details

Record detail