In RAID‑10 write operations the kernel acquired writes_pending references that were not released when write requests failed, creating a reference leak and allowing kernel memory or resource counters to grow uncontrollably. The consequence is a degradation of system performance and a potential kernel panic, effectively a denial of service. The weakness can be categorised as an uncontrolled resource consumption flaw.

The bug is present in all Linux kernel builds that were in use before the upstream patch was applied. Any distribution shipping an older kernel that does not include the change from the commit identifiers cited in the references is potentially affected.

No EPSS score is available and the issue is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, but the possibility of an uncontrolled resource leak makes the risk high. The likely attack vector involves a write request failure that can be triggered by malformed input or an internal error, which typically requires local or privileged access. The patch that removes the leak is the definitive fix.