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CVE-2026-89991
bpf: Fix infinite loop in pcpu_freelist push with one possible CPU
Published 2026-09-16 (33 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem kernel/bpf. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89991 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 | not affected | 6.12.113-1 | Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| 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
__pcpu_freelist_push() can loop forever when only one CPU is possible and an NMI re-enters pcpu_freelist_push() while the interrupted context holds that CPU's freelist lock. After the current-CPU fast path fails, the fallback loop walks cpu_possible_mask while skipping the current CPU. With CONFIG_SMP=n, or when an SMP kernel is limited to one possible CPU with nr_cpus=1 or possible_cpus=1, there are no other possible CPUs to examine. The loop therefore makes no lock acquisition attempt and can never make progress. The following stack was observed on a UP system: NMI context: pcpu_freelist_push free_htab_elem htab_map_delete_elem [perf-event BPF program] __perf_event_overflow perf_event_nmi_handler exc_nmi Interrupted context: __pcpu_freelist_push pcpu_freelist_push free_htab_elem htab_map_delete_elem [raw_tp/sys_enter BPF program] __bpf_trace_sys_enter do_syscall_64 raw_res_spin_lock() detects the same-CPU recursive acquisition and returns -EDEADLK, but the subsequent fallback loop has no candidate head on a system with one possible CPU. Restore the extra fallback head that existed before the rqspinlock conversion. Keep the current-CPU fast path, then try the other possible CPUs and finally the extra head. The additional head lets a push, which cannot fail without losing a preallocated element, make progress when the only per-CPU head is held by the interrupted context. Also check the extra head from the pop path so that nodes placed there can be reused.
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/bpf/percpu_freelist.c
kernel/bpf/percpu_freelist.h
- What this is
- BPF [GENERAL] (Safe Dynamic Programs and Tools)MAINTAINERS section matched on kernel/bpf/ · bpf@vger.kernel.org · Supported
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_BPF|CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL' /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 code. Every release below compiles the affected file into the kernels it ships.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidy
- y
- built into the kernel image on every flavour - only a patch removes it
- Build switches
- CONFIG_BPF, CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL
- 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
- 2026-09-16 (33 days ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.21%, higher than 10.0% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- kernel/bpf
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.15 | 6.18.51 | a24a146ae2cb |
| 6.15 | 7.2.5 | a5b5e62bacef |
| 6.15 | 7.3 | efebf6496685 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-89991, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.