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Linux Kernel: Memory Swap Error Causes Kernel Panic
CVE-2026-23211
Summary
A fix has been made to the Linux kernel to prevent a rare error that causes the system to freeze and display an error message when the computer is under heavy memory pressure. This issue occurs when the system's memory swap space is marked as read-only, leading to a kernel panic. To resolve this issue, a patch has been applied to restore the swap space to its normal state.
Original title
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm, swap: restore swap_space attr aviod kernel panic
commit 8b47299a411a ("mm, swap: mark swap address space ro and add context...
Original description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
mm, swap: restore swap_space attr aviod kernel panic
commit 8b47299a411a ("mm, swap: mark swap address space ro and add context
debug check") made the swap address space read-only. It may lead to
kernel panic if arch_prepare_to_swap returns a failure under heavy memory
pressure as follows,
el1_abort+0x40/0x64
el1h_64_sync_handler+0x48/0xcc
el1h_64_sync+0x84/0x88
errseq_set+0x4c/0xb8 (P)
__filemap_set_wb_err+0x20/0xd0
shrink_folio_list+0xc20/0x11cc
evict_folios+0x1520/0x1be4
try_to_shrink_lruvec+0x27c/0x3dc
shrink_one+0x9c/0x228
shrink_node+0xb3c/0xeac
do_try_to_free_pages+0x170/0x4f0
try_to_free_pages+0x334/0x534
__alloc_pages_direct_reclaim+0x90/0x158
__alloc_pages_slowpath+0x334/0x588
__alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x224/0x2fc
__folio_alloc_noprof+0x14/0x64
vma_alloc_zeroed_movable_folio+0x34/0x44
do_pte_missing+0xad4/0x1040
handle_mm_fault+0x4a4/0x790
do_page_fault+0x288/0x5f8
do_translation_fault+0x38/0x54
do_mem_abort+0x54/0xa8
Restore swap address space as not ro to avoid the panic.
mm, swap: restore swap_space attr aviod kernel panic
commit 8b47299a411a ("mm, swap: mark swap address space ro and add context
debug check") made the swap address space read-only. It may lead to
kernel panic if arch_prepare_to_swap returns a failure under heavy memory
pressure as follows,
el1_abort+0x40/0x64
el1h_64_sync_handler+0x48/0xcc
el1h_64_sync+0x84/0x88
errseq_set+0x4c/0xb8 (P)
__filemap_set_wb_err+0x20/0xd0
shrink_folio_list+0xc20/0x11cc
evict_folios+0x1520/0x1be4
try_to_shrink_lruvec+0x27c/0x3dc
shrink_one+0x9c/0x228
shrink_node+0xb3c/0xeac
do_try_to_free_pages+0x170/0x4f0
try_to_free_pages+0x334/0x534
__alloc_pages_direct_reclaim+0x90/0x158
__alloc_pages_slowpath+0x334/0x588
__alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x224/0x2fc
__folio_alloc_noprof+0x14/0x64
vma_alloc_zeroed_movable_folio+0x34/0x44
do_pte_missing+0xad4/0x1040
handle_mm_fault+0x4a4/0x790
do_page_fault+0x288/0x5f8
do_translation_fault+0x38/0x54
do_mem_abort+0x54/0xa8
Restore swap address space as not ro to avoid the panic.
Published: 18 Feb 2026 · Updated: 11 Mar 2026 · First seen: 6 Mar 2026