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CVE-2026-64529
crypto: qat - remove unused character device and IOCTLs
Published 2026-07-25 (3 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem Documentation/userspace-api. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-64529 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | fixed | 6.1.177-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.1.177-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.95-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.95-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.0.14-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.14-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.0.14-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.0.14-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
The QAT driver exposes a character device (qat_adf_ctl) with IOCTLs for device configuration, start, stop, status query and enumeration. These IOCTLs are not part of any public uAPI header and have no known in-tree or out-of-tree users. Device lifecycle is already managed via sysfs. The ioctl interface also increases the attack surface and is the subject of a number of bug reports. Remove the character device, the IOCTL definitions, and the related data structures (adf_dev_status_info, adf_user_cfg_key_val, adf_user_cfg_section, adf_user_cfg_ctl_data). Drop the now-unused adf_cfg_user.h header and strip adf_ctl_drv.c down to the minimal module_init/module_exit hooks for workqueue, AER, and crypto/compression algorithm registration. Clean up leftover dead code that was only reachable from the removed IOCTL paths: adf_cfg_del_all(), adf_devmgr_verify_id(), adf_devmgr_get_num_dev(), adf_devmgr_get_dev_by_id(), adf_get_vf_real_id() and the unused ADF_CFG macros. Additionally, drop the entry associated to QAT IOCTLs in ioctl-number.rst.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
Documentation/userspace-api/ioctl/ioctl-number.rst
drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_common/adf_cfg.c
drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_common/adf_cfg.h
drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_common/adf_cfg_common.h
drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_common/adf_cfg_user.h
drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_common/adf_common_drv.h
drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_common/adf_ctl_drv.c
drivers/crypto/intel/qat/qat_common/adf_dev_mgr.c
- What this is
- DOCUMENTATIONMAINTAINERS section matched on Documentation/ · linux-doc@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- intel_qat
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_CRYPTO|CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_QAT' /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w intel_qatPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed. The build rule could not be established for 1 release, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm?
- trixieMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/arm64, arm64/arm64-16k, arm64/cloud-arm64, arm64/rt/arm64, armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- forky, sidMnot built on amd64/cloud-amd64, arm64/arm64, arm64/arm64-16k, arm64/cloud-arm64, arm64/rt-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, loong64/loong64, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- M
- a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
- Build switches
- CONFIG_CRYPTO, CONFIG_CRYPTO_DEV_QAT
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-07-25 (3 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.8 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.18%, higher than 7.4% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- Documentation/userspace-api
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 3.17 | 5.10.260 | 071590a44cbc |
| 3.17 | 5.15.211 | 1de076f43e64 |
| 3.17 | 6.1.177 | a4999664a5ef |
| 3.17 | 6.6.144 | 6848a6e39cac |
| 3.17 | 6.12.95 | b1ea97076bd0 |
| 3.17 | 6.18.37 | b8ebf008696d |
| 3.17 | 7.0.14 | de2cc38489b6 |
| 3.17 | 7.1.2 | 3ae49dd04dbb |
| 3.17 | 7.2 | d237230728c5 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4717-1 | 2026-08-05 | bullseye 5.10.262-1 | tracker |
| DLA-4700-1 | 2026-07-26 | bullseye 6.1.177-1~deb11u1 | tracker |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:LAttack vector, local
- The vulnerable interface is reached through local open and ioctl syscalls on /dev/qat_adf_ctl; it has no network or physical entry path.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker can repeatedly invoke the start or status ioctl while coordinating QAT VF teardown in a hot-pluggable deployment, giving effective control over the race. A short ioctl loop has already produced the confirmed [KASAN use-after-free](https://www.spinics.net/lists/kernel/msg6034466.html ).
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- The driver performs no capability or credential check, so device-file permissions are the only gate. Standard QAT installation grants non-root qat-group members mode-0660 access to qat_adf_ctl according to the [Intel QAT installation guide](https://intel.github.io/quickassist/GSG/2.X/installation.html ).
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation requires only attacker-generated ioctl calls and device-lifecycle operations, with no action by another user.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The flaw compromises the same host or guest kernel security authority in which the vulnerable QAT driver executes; ordinary kernel privilege escalation does not change scope.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The freed accel_dev can be reclaimed with attacker-influenced heap contents, and the status path follows stale pointers and invokes callbacks, providing a defensible route to arbitrary kernel-memory disclosure.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- Mutex operations and configuration paths write through the reclaimed object, while forged hw_device callbacks provide a plausible control-flow-hijack and arbitrary-kernel-write primitive.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The UAF is confirmed to cause a KASAN kernel failure, and repeated malformed ioctls can independently create a printk storm leading to stalls, watchdog lockups, or panic.