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CVE-2026-97989

Linux: vduse: validate virtqueue alignment

Linux LinuxOperating systems
CVSS
NoneNot scored
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)0.17%Chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 5% of CVEs. Scored 23 Oct 2026FIRST EPSS
Fixed in650bac9c73d3b4d83be683028283654c05346556Also 5d4bdca17d87c90b1d888f8846a781a18aa453c9, 831dab9b9bcc184adf78f18b5b788316e3174aecCVE List
Published25 Sep 2026Updated 21 Oct 2026CVE List

What fixes it

  • 650bac9c73d3b4d83be683028283654c05346556LinuxCVE List
  • 5d4bdca17d87c90b1d888f8846a781a18aa453c9LinuxCVE List
  • 831dab9b9bcc184adf78f18b5b788316e3174aecLinuxCVE List

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

vduse: validate virtqueue alignment

vduse_validate_config() only checks the upper bound of vq_align. Invalid values can therefore reach vring_create_virtqueue_map(). The split-ring helpers use align - 1 as a bit mask, so the alignment must be a non-zero power of two. A zero value makes vring_size() drop the descriptor and available-ring part and vring_init() leave the used ring pointer NULL.

The VIRTIO spec requires the used ring to start at an address aligned to at least 4 bytes. Reject values below VRING_USED_ALIGN_SIZE as well as non-power-of-two values before they reach the virtio ring helpers.

Opening a virtio-net device created with vq_align=0 triggered:

BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in virtqueue_kick_prepare_split+0xe3/0x100 Read of size 2 at addr 0000000000000000 by task systemd-network/1062

Call Trace (relevant frames): dump_stack_lvl print_report kasan_report __asan_load2 virtqueue_kick_prepare_split+0xe3/0x100 virtqueue_kick_prepare+0x40/0x60 try_fill_recv+0x857/0x1250 virtnet_open+0x189/0x460 __dev_open+0x225/0x390 __dev_change_flags+0x368/0x3b0 netif_change_flags+0x56/0xc0 do_setlink.isra.0+0x68c/0x1e30

Validate the value before it reaches the virtio ring helpers.

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 12

  • Linuxaffected: c8a6153b6c59d95c0e091f053f6f180952ade91e before 650bac9c73d3b4d83be683028283654c05346556CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: c8a6153b6c59d95c0e091f053f6f180952ade91e before 5d4bdca17d87c90b1d888f8846a781a18aa453c9CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: c8a6153b6c59d95c0e091f053f6f180952ade91e before 831dab9b9bcc184adf78f18b5b788316e3174aecCVE List
  • Linuxaffected: c8a6153b6c59d95c0e091f053f6f180952ade91e before c3c3b0839a1197530cc18f535062fc84dbdfc885CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: c8a6153b6c59d95c0e091f053f6f180952ade91e before fa2c25b4add57888acfa89e398389e267bff3dcfCVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 5.15CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: all versions before 5.15CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.6.160 through 6.6.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.12.114 through 6.12.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.18.57 through 6.18.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.2.7 through 7.2.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.3CVE List

References 5