CVE-2026-98357
HighCVSS 8.1Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk28th percentile - higher than 28% of all known CVEs
Summary
A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's IB/isert module. isert_send_done() defers completion handling for certain control PDUs to the isert_comp_wq workqueue, but nothing orders that work against connection teardown, so the queued work can run against memory freed by isert_wait_conn() and iscsit_close_connection().
Risk Assessment
This can cause kernel memory corruption, system crashes (panic), or potentially be exploited for privilege escalation. The risk affects systems using iSCSI target with IB/isert under a race condition during connection teardown.
Recommendation
Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that counts deferred control PDU completions and waits for them in isert_wait_conn() before releasing the connection. If updating is not possible, restrict access to iSCSI target services or monitor systems for isert-related crashes.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
See all- CVE-2026-99087Unknown
In the Linux kernel, dm-integrity has a NULL pointer dereference when a device with the SB_FLAG_DIRTY_BITMAP flag is activated in 'R' mode. The dm_integrity_resume function attempts to read the journal containing the bitmap, causing a crash. The fix skips writes to the device in 'R' mode during resume.
- CVE-2026-99086Unknown
In the Linux kernel, dm-integrity does not validate the superblock on resume, allowing a user to modify the superblock on the underlying device while the dm-integrity device is suspended. This can cause a mismatch in in-memory structure sizes and an out-of-bounds write past the journal, including a 512-byte write through a NULL pointer. The fix snapshots the validated superblock in the constructor and refuses to resume if the on-disk geometry changed.
- CVE-2026-99085Unknown
A Linux kernel vulnerability was fixed in the sched_ext scheduler that caused a CPU hotplug hang when a dying CPU's tasks remained in the BPF scheduler. Such tasks were still counted on the runqueue, but an inactive CPU no longer called ops.dispatch() and could not pull them back, blocking the hotplug thread and cpu_down() while holding cpu_hotplug_lock. The fix re-enqueues tasks on the offline rq to the local DSQ so balance_push() can move them off.
- CVE-2026-99084Unknown
In the Linux kernel, a flaw was fixed in iterate_dir() where the directory's i_rwsem lock was held during readdir even for immutable directories that are never removed. For the nullfs instance directory (shared across mount namespaces and kernel threads), a malicious reader could hold the lock indefinitely, blocking mkdir, lookups, and mounts for other users. A new FOP_IMMUTABLE flag was added to skip the lock for such directories.
- CVE-2026-99083Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the ksmbd server has a heap out-of-bounds write in krb5_authenticate(). When SMB2_SESSION_SETUP is processed as a non-first element of a compounded SMB2 request, the out_len calculation omits work->next_smb2_rsp_hdr_off, overstating available buffer space and allowing memcpy() to write the AP-REP blob past response_buf. The fix subtracts this value when computing out_len.
- CVE-2026-99082Unknown
A bug was fixed in the Linux kernel KVM on x86 regarding the per-vCPU MMIO cache. The cache was tagged with a memslot generation, but both the fill and validation paths used kvm_memslots(), which unconditionally selects address space 0 even when the vCPU runs in SMM and uses address space 1. As a result, an SMM memslot update could leave an apparently valid entry from the old SMM address space after the vCPU returns to the normal address space, letting a guest force a KVM_EXIT_MMIO for valid RAM.
- CVE-2026-99080Unknown
In the Linux kernel, clear_inode() has an xarray node leak that can be triggered, among other ways, via madvise. Rather than fixing the leaks where they occur, the fix calls xa_destroy(), which has the side effect of cycling the i_pages lock.
- CVE-2026-99079Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the net/mlx5e driver can release a stale XSK buffer during refill retry on a legacy cyclic RQ. When refill succeeds only partially, a WQE left without a replacement retains its old buffer pointer, which may be allocated to another WQE, leading to freeing a live buffer and double-publishing the same UMEM frame. The fix marks the WQE as released immediately after the driver-side free.
- CVE-2026-99078Unknown
In the Linux kernel, the net/mlx5e driver can release a stale XSK buffer during MPWQE refill retry on a striding RQ. When XSK allocation returns -ENOMEM, actual_wq_head is not advanced and a later NAPI poll may call xsk_buff_free() again through stale pointers after frames return to the XSK pool. The fix sets all skip_release_bitmap bits in the error path of mlx5e_xsk_alloc_rx_mpwqe().
- CVE-2026-99077Unknown
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's IPv4/UDP handling allowed off-path attackers to conduct a side-channel attack on the FIB nexthop exception (FNHE) cache. Previously, an exception was only created if the UDP packet could be matched to an existing socket, enabling discovery of the ephemeral port used by a connected UDP socket. The fix always creates a FNHE before attempting socket matching.
Original NVD description (English source)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: IB/isert: wait for deferred control PDU completions before releasing the connection isert_send_done() hands ISTATE_SEND_TASKMGTRSP, ISTATE_SEND_REJECT and ISTATE_SEND_TEXTRSP completions off to isert_comp_wq and returns. The work item then runs isert_completion_put() -> isert_put_cmd(), which reads isert_conn->conn and takes conn->cmd_lock. Nothing orders that work item against teardown. isert_wait_conn() queues isert_release_work, which frees isert_conn, and iscsit_close_connection() frees the iscsit_conn right after it returns, so the queued work can run against freed memory. Count the deferred control PDU completions per connection and let isert_wait_conn() wait for them before the release work is queued. ISTATE_SEND_LOGOUTRSP is deliberately not counted: that branch runs iscsit_logout_post_handler(), which ends up waiting for conn->conn_wait_comp, and that completion is only sent by iscsit_close_connection() after it has called iscsit_wait_conn(). Waiting for it here would deadlock. Its wait stays the existing isert_wait4logout(). The splat below is from a kernel with tracing printk()s and an msleep(200) injected into isert_do_control_comp() to widen the window: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in isert_put_cmd+0x53d/0x620 Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881054f1038 by task kworker/u17:1/182 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 182 Comm: kworker/u17:1 Tainted: G B 7.2.0-rc5-TWIDE-gb8babf08acc7 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) Tainted: [B]=BAD_PAGE Hardware name: QEMU Ubuntu 24.04 PC v2 (i440FX + PIIX, arch_caps fix, 1996), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Workqueue: isert_comp_wq isert_do_control_comp Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x53/0x70 print_report+0xd0/0x630 ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 ? _raw_spin_unlock_irqrestore+0x3e/0x70 ? isert_put_cmd+0x53d/0x620 kasan_report+0xce/0x100 ? isert_put_cmd+0x53d/0x620 isert_put_cmd+0x53d/0x620 ? isert_completion_put+0x305/0x330 ? isert_do_control_comp+0x2ef/0x310 process_one_work+0x633/0x1030 ? assign_work+0x11d/0x370 worker_thread+0x45b/0xd10 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 kthread+0x2c6/0x3b0 ? recalc_sigpending+0x15c/0x1e0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork+0x36e/0x5a0 ? __pfx_ret_from_fork+0x10/0x10 ? __switch_to+0x572/0xdd0 ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 </TASK> Allocated by task 48: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 __kasan_kmalloc+0x8f/0xa0 __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x158/0x370 isert_cma_handler+0x1e3/0x2ae0 cma_cm_event_handler+0x3e/0x240 cma_ib_req_handler+0x17d9/0x4490 cm_process_work+0x41/0x330 cm_work_handler+0x5727/0xc160 process_one_work+0x633/0x1030 worker_thread+0x45b/0xd10 kthread+0x2c6/0x3b0 ret_from_fork+0x36e/0x5a0 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 Freed by task 184: kasan_save_stack+0x33/0x60 kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 kasan_save_free_info+0x3b/0x60 __kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70 kfree+0x121/0x380 iscsit_close_connection+0x7cf/0x1e60 iscsit_take_action_for_connection_exit+0x1b6/0x360 iscsi_target_tx_thread+0x472/0x690 kthread+0x2c6/0x3b0 ret_from_fork+0x36e/0x5a0 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

