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CVE-2026-89503
ring-buffer: Fix subbuf resize race with ring_buffer_alloc_read_page()
Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem kernel/trace. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89503 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 | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6568-1 · 2026-10-16 · text | 6.12.113-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6568-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-16, in 6.12.113-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
ring_buffer_alloc_read_page() is racy with ring_buffer_subbuf_order_set, it can allocate a reader page with an outdated order. This isn't a big issue, the user can still re-allocate a new reader page and try again. However, what is more problematic is if the value of subbuf_order changes in the middle of ring_buffer_alloc_read_page(). In that case, bpage->order might not match the actual allocated memory. Use bpage->order for the allocation to prevent this race.
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.
kernel/trace/ring_buffer.c
- What this is
- TRACINGMAINTAINERS section matched on kernel/trace/ · linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_FUNCTION_TRACER|CONFIG_RETHOOK|CONFIG_RING_BUFFER|CONFIG_TRACEPOINTS|CONFIG_TRACE_CLOCK|CONFIG_TRACING' /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.
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.
- bookwormYnot built on arm64/arm64, arm64/cloud-arm64, arm64/rt/arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, ppc64el/powerpc64le
- trixieYnot built on arm64/arm64, arm64/arm64-16k, arm64/cloud-arm64, arm64/rt/arm64, armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp
- forky, sidYnot built on arm64/arm64, arm64/arm64-16k, arm64/cloud-arm64, arm64/rt-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae
- Y
- built in where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_FUNCTION_TRACER, CONFIG_RETHOOK, CONFIG_RING_BUFFER, CONFIG_TRACEPOINTS, CONFIG_TRACE_CLOCK, CONFIG_TRACING
- 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
- 2026-09-11 (37 days 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
- 0.16%, higher than 5.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- kernel/trace
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.8 | 6.12.112 | 2313ff69bd23 |
| 6.8 | 6.18.50 | 2dc510957fe8 |
| 6.8 | 7.2.4 | 53106e9262a3 |
| 6.8 | 7.3 | e743527c5bfd |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSA-6568-1 | 2026-10-16 | trixie 6.12.113-1 | 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 bug is reached only via local tracefs: read() on per_cpu/*/trace_pipe_raw or snapshot_raw (tracing_buffers_read -> ring_buffer_alloc_read_page) racing with write() to buffer_subbuf_size_kb. No network, adjacent-radio, or physical path reaches this code.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker controls both sides: one thread reads trace_pipe_raw while another writes buffer_subbuf_size_kb. GFP_KERNEL in alloc_cpu_data sleeps, so subbuf_order can change between the two reads in ring_buffer_alloc_read_page(); the race is reliably retried.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- tracing_check_open_get_tr() enforces only LOCKDOWN_TRACEFS and DAC with no capable() check. trace_pipe_raw is 0440 and buffer_subbuf_size_kb is 0640, routinely delegated via gid=/mode= to tracing-group members on Android/Perfetto, ChromeOS, and developer systems.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation uses the attacker's own tracefs file descriptors and threads. No separate victim mount, click, or configuration action is required beyond the attacker holding tracefs access.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Wrong-order page allocation and free corrupt the kernel buddy allocator and ring-buffer pages within the same OS security authority. This enables local privilege escalation but does not cross VM, IOMMU, or hardware trust boundaries.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- When bpage->order does not match the alloc_pages() size, later copy_to_user of a stale page_size and ring_buffer_read_page memcpy/memset over-read adjacent kernel pages, and wrong-order free_pages() corrupts the buddy allocator, yielding arbitrary kernel reads.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- free_pages() with a larger order than allocated, or memcpy/memset into an undersized sub-buffer when reader_page->order later matches the stale bpage->order, corrupts adjacent pages and the buddy allocator, which is exploitable for arbitrary kernel writes.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Wrong-order free_pages() and out-of-bounds writes on undersized compound pages crash the kernel via buddy-allocator corruption or oops in ring_buffer_read_page/free_read_page. The attacker can retrigger the race at will.