# CVE-2026-68172: linux: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  arm64: make huge_ptep_get handled unaligned addr...

CVE-2026-68172 is fixed in linux on 1 platform by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68172 (version 7.1.6-1), released August 11, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: High.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-68172
- Priority: High
- CVSS: 7.1 (high)
- EPSS: 0.0016
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Aug 10, 2026

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  arm64: make huge_ptep_get handled unaligned addresses  huge_ptep_get() can be handed a virtual address pointing to the middle of a contpmd/contpte mapped hugetlb folio (examples of callers are pagemap_hugetlb_range, page_mapped_in_vma).  The arm64 helper rewalks the pgtables in find_num_contig to answer whether the huge pte we have maps a contpmd or a contpte hugetlb folio, and returns CONT_PMDS or CONT_PTES, so that it can collect a/d bits over the contiguous ptes. We can falsely return CONT_PTES instead of CONT_PMDS if the addr is not aligned. On systems where CONT_PTES != CONT_PMDS (meaning page size is 16K), we could collect excess A/D bit state, meaning extra work for the kernel. Even worse, we may iterate beyond the PTE table and dereference a garbage ptep pointer to access physical memory we don't own. Since the ptep pointer is a linear map address, we may run off the end of the linear map or into a hole, dereference a VA not mapped into the kernel pgtables and cause kernel panic.  Fix this by aligning the pmdp pointer down to a contpmd base before checking equality with the passed huge pte pointer, to correctly answer whether the huge pte is the base of a contpmd block.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | linux Debian 14 | 7.1.6-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68172](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-68172.md) | Aug 11, 2026 |

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