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CVE-2026-90011
scsi: target: iscsi: Reserve a terminator byte for the login payload
Published 2026-09-16 (33 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/target. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-90011 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 | fixedDLA-4841-1 · 2026-10-17 · text | 6.1.190-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4841-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-17, in 6.1.190-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6528-1 · 2026-09-29 · text | 6.12.111-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6528-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-29, in 6.12.111-1. 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. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4817-1 · 2026-10-04 · text | 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4817-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-04, in 6.12.111-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
iscsi_target_check_login_request() rejects a login PDU whose DataSegmentLength exceeds MAX_KEY_VALUE_PAIRS, but the test is '>' and login->req_buf is allocated with exactly MAX_KEY_VALUE_PAIRS bytes. Since iscsit_get_login_rx() receives payload_length + padding bytes, where padding = ((-payload_length) & 3); any payload_length from 8189 to 8192 fills the whole 8192 byte buffer. The write stays in bounds, but no byte is left for a NUL terminator. The buffer is subsequently consumed as a C string. In the CHAP path chap_check_algorithm() calls kstrdup(a_str), and extract_param() calls strstr(in_buf, pattern) followed by strlen_semi(), none of which take a length. convert_null_to_semi() additionally rewrites every embedded NUL to ';', so even a payload made of well formed NUL separated key=value records is left without a terminator. These walk past the end of the object into adjacent slab memory. It is reachable by an unauthenticated initiator against a portal configured for CHAP; when authentication is not required iscsi_login_zero_tsih_s2() rewrites AuthMethod to None and the CHAP path is never entered. Allocate one extra byte. kzalloc() zeroes it and nothing ever writes to it, as every writer copies to offset 0 for at most MAX_KEY_VALUE_PAIRS bytes, so the buffer is always terminated.
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.
drivers/target/iscsi/iscsi_target_login.c
- What this is
- SCSI TARGET SUBSYSTEMMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/target/ · linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- iscsi_target_mod
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_ISCSI_TARGET|CONFIG_TARGET_CORE' /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 iscsi_target_modPrints 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 as a loadable module. Every release below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12m
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switches
- CONFIG_ISCSI_TARGET, CONFIG_TARGET_CORE
- 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
- 9.1 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.82%, higher than 56.4% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/target
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 5.10.270 | 5fac79f248c3 |
| 3.1 | 5.15.221 | 6ddddcad436d |
| 3.1 | 6.1.188 | b19dc17ed963 |
| 3.1 | 6.6.157 | 6b589ef9d5f6 |
| 3.1 | 6.12.110 | eb9dadf4d552 |
| 3.1 | 6.18.51 | 1624bff4c511 |
| 3.1 | 7.2.5 | 3ddf3ea291a0 |
| 3.1 | 7.3 | f4825922d2fb |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4841-1 | 2026-10-17 | bookworm 6.1.190-1 | tracker |
| DLA-4817-1 | 2026-10-04 | bookworm 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
| DSA-6528-1 | 2026-09-29 | trixie 6.12.111-1 | 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:NAttack vector, network
- The LIO in-kernel iSCSI target accepts remote TCP connections on the iSCSI portal (typically port 3260); a crafted Login PDU is received by iscsit_accept_np()/iscsit_get_login_rx() and reaches the CHAP parsers over the network, the same exposure model as nfsd or ksmbd.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- The attacker fully controls DataSegmentLength and the login payload. A CHAP_A PDU of 8189-8192 bytes with no NUL, or a second CHAP round where convert_null_to_semi() strips every terminator, makes kstrdup()/strstr() over-read adjacent slab deterministically; no race or victim-side layout is required.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- The over-read runs in the CHAP login handshake before the password hash is checked, so no Linux account or capability is needed. Default TPG authentication is CHAP (TA_AUTHENTICATION=1), and chap_server_open() proceeds once target-side CHAP credentials exist, which is the normal CHAP deployment.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker opens a TCP connection to the listening portal and sends the malicious Login PDUs; no victim user action such as mounting a volume or accepting a prompt is required.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The unbounded C-string over-read and any resulting kernel oops stay inside the host iSCSI target's kernel security authority and do not by themselves cross a VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- chap_check_algorithm() kstrdup()s the unterminated 8192-byte req_buf, and extract_param() uses unbounded strstr()/strlen_semi() after convert_null_to_semi() removes embedded NULs, producing an unbounded out-of-bounds read of adjacent kmalloc-8k slab that can disclose neighboring kernel objects.
- I:NIntegrity impact, none
- iscsit_get_login_rx() copies at most MAX_KEY_VALUE_PAIRS bytes into req_buf, so the network write stays in bounds; convert_null_to_semi() also writes only within payload_length. There is no out-of-bounds write or control-flow hijack primitive.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- strlen()/kstrdup()/strstr() walking past the kmalloc-8k login object into unmapped or guard pages causes a kernel oops, and the attacker can repeat the unauthenticated login against an exposed portal, denying service to the host and its iSCSI clients.