CVE-2026-23144

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Data Access MONitor (DAMON) sysfs interface. A local attacker, typically a privileged user, could exploit a cleanup bug during DAMON context setup. If the setup fails after the attrs directory is created, stale sysfs directories are left behind. This can lead to a local denial of service, making the DAMON sysfs interface unusable until a system reboot, and potentially cause a kernel memory leak if repeatedly triggered.

A cleanup bug in the DAMON sysfs interface can leave behind stale sysfs directories when setting up a DAMON context fails after the attrs directory hierarchy has been created. The context directory setup sequence creates attrs and its subdirectories early and then proceeds to configure additional objects such as targets and schemes. If one of these later steps fails the old error path only released the attrs kobject without removing the attrs subdirectories. This leaves a partially created sysfs tree that can make the DAMON sysfs interface effectively unusable until reboot and also leaks kernel memory tied to the unremoved sysfs structures. The practical impact is local denial of service of DAMON sysfs management and a potential kernel memory leak if the failing setup path can be triggered repeatedly. Triggering the bug requires local access to the DAMON sysfs configuration interface and a way to induce setup failure. This is typically restricted to privileged users but may vary by deployment.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.