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CVE-2026-99179

Linux: watch_queue: Fix note pool publication race in watch_queue_set_size()

Linux LinuxOperating systems
CVSS
NoneNot scored
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)No scoreNo FIRST EPSS score in this snapshot yet
Fixed in811fb6d0b07605e8e8d93bde8748be4b3028809aAlso 9e73a6754457ffed8399b835552013b9363e51d1, 5e531d62f1f8834faf7a4eed0d41105cf6570a8fCVE List
Published28 Oct 2026Updated 28 Oct 2026CVE List

What fixes it

  • 811fb6d0b07605e8e8d93bde8748be4b3028809aLinuxCVE List
  • 9e73a6754457ffed8399b835552013b9363e51d1LinuxCVE List
  • 5e531d62f1f8834faf7a4eed0d41105cf6570a8fLinuxCVE 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:

watch_queue: Fix note pool publication race in watch_queue_set_size()

There is a race between watch_queue_set_size() and post_one_notification(). watch_queue_set_size() publishes wqueue->notes, notes_bitmap, nr_pages and nr_notes with plain stores, and post_one_notification() reads them with plain loads under a different lock, so nothing orders the four stores against the poster's loads: depending on the build, notes can be stored last (gcc 14 on x86-64 does this). Since keyctl_watch_key() lets a watch attach to a queue before it is sized, post_one_notification() can already be running on another CPU at that moment: it reads nr_notes > 0, passes its bounds check, and then reads notes while it is still NULL, dereferencing notes[0].

An unprivileged user triggers this reliably by watching one of its own keys through a notification pipe and racing ioctl(IOC_WATCH_QUEUE_SET_SIZE) on that pipe against keyctl(KEYCTL_SETPERM) on the key from another CPU, triggering:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 RIP: 0010:post_one_notification.isra.0+0xa2/0x1e0 Call Trace: __post_watch_notification+0x148/0x180 keyctl_setperm_key+0x119/0x130 do_syscall_64+0x108/0x4c0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

Fix this by publishing nr_notes last with smp_store_release(), and by reading it once with smp_load_acquire() in post_one_notification() before the bitmap and the page array are touched. A poster that observes a non-zero nr_notes then also observes the pool behind it; one that observes zero drops the notification as before.

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 8

  • Linuxaffected: c73be61cede5882f9605a852414db559c0ebedfd before 811fb6d0b07605e8e8d93bde8748be4b3028809aCVE List
  • Linuxaffected: c73be61cede5882f9605a852414db559c0ebedfd before 9e73a6754457ffed8399b835552013b9363e51d1CVE List
  • Linuxaffected: c73be61cede5882f9605a852414db559c0ebedfd before 5e531d62f1f8834faf7a4eed0d41105cf6570a8fCVE List
  • Linuxaffected: 5.8CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: all versions before 5.8CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 6.18.59 through 6.18.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.2.13 through 7.2.*CVE List
  • Linuxunaffected: 7.3CVE List

References 3