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CVE-2026-90227
nvme/ioctl: check SUBMIT_IO with nvme_cmd_allowed()
Published 2026-09-17 (31 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/nvme. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-90227 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 | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| 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
Unlike IO_CMD / IO64_CMD, NVME_IOCTL_SUBMIT_IO never calls nvme_cmd_allowed(). Unprivileged callers can thus issue I/O on a partition device or write through a read-only file descriptor. Pass flags and open_for_write through and reject disallowed commands with -EACCES.
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/nvme/host/ioctl.c
- What this is
- NVM EXPRESS DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/nvme/host/ · linux-nvme@lists.infradead.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- nvme_core
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_NVME_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 nvme_corePrints 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 code. Every release below compiles the affected file into the kernels it ships.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12b
- b
- built in on some flavours, a module on others
- Build switch
- CONFIG_NVME_CORE
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
- 2026-09-17 (31 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
- 0.17%, higher than 5.7% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/nvme
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 3.3 | 6.6.157 | c35cd98eed1a |
| 3.3 | 6.12.110 | 95b0591d51db |
| 3.3 | 6.18.52 | 736b7c6adc7a |
| 3.3 | 7.2.6 | b116e9dae433 |
| 3.3 | 7.3 | b53d495c7f0d |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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:LAttack vector, local
- Attacker-controlled opcode/slba/nblocks enter via copy_from_user of struct nvme_user_io in nvme_submit_io(), reached only through ioctl(NVME_IOCTL_SUBMIT_IO) on an NVMe block or ng* char node (blkdev_ioctl → nvme_ioctl / nvme_ns_chr_ioctl → nvme_ns_ioctl). No remote protocol carries that payload.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- nvme_submit_io() copies the user nvme_user_io, accepts nvme_cmd_read/write/compare, and submits with the caller-chosen io.slba; there is no race or layout dependency, so the same ioctl reliably performs the I/O.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- nvme_open()/nvme_ns_chr_open() impose no capability check, and the vulnerable nvme_submit_io() path never called nvme_cmd_allowed(), the only CAP_SYS_ADMIN gate for partition and read-only-fd I/O. An unprivileged user who can open a partition or O_RDONLY NVMe node can issue the ioctl.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker opens the NVMe node they already control and issues NVME_IOCTL_SUBMIT_IO themselves; no other user must mount media, pass a file, or otherwise act.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Skipping nvme_cmd_allowed() lets the caller read and write other LBAs of the same NVMe namespace in the host kernel. That is intra-OS partition/fd-mode bypass, not a VM, IOMMU, or guest-to-host boundary crossing.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- On a partition bdev, nvme_ioctl() still uses bdev->bd_disk->private_data (the whole namespace) and nvme_submit_io() programs c.rw.slba from attacker io.slba without adding bd_start_sect, so nvme_cmd_read returns arbitrary namespace LBAs including other partitions.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The same path accepts io.opcode=nvme_cmd_write and, because nvme_cmd_allowed() is not called, ignores NVME_IOCTL_PARTITION and !open_for_write, so the attacker can persist writes to any namespace LBA from a partition fd or an O_RDONLY descriptor.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Those unscoped nvme_cmd_write commands can overwrite other partitions' metadata, swap, or the OS image on the same namespace, persistently denying use of the host or co-tenant volumes (the failure mode nvme_cmd_allowed() exists to prevent).