data built 2026-10-19T13:16:53Z

Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-97960 in the interactive tracker

CVE-2026-97960

perf/x86/intel: Prevent drain_pebs() reentry

EPSS 0.2%

Published 2026-09-25 (24 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem arch/x86. Debian urgency: unimportant.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-97960 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

ReleaseStatus VersionWhat this means
Debian 12bookwormnot affected6.1.190-1Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code.
Debian 13trixievulnerable6.12.113-1No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication.
Debian 14forkyfixed7.2.7-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.7-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesidfixed7.2.7-1Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.7-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

The PEBS buffer is shared by all events on a CPU, so drain_pebs() must not be reentered. If so, one instance may observe stale buffer state and potentially access out-of-bound memory. Most invocations happen in NMI context, which naturally prevents reentry. However, drain_pebs() is also reachable from process context via intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer(). In those paths, the PMU is often already disabled, but not guaranteed. For example, __intel_pmu_pebs_disable() only disables the target counter, so other active counters can still raise a PMI and interrupt an in-flight drain_pebs(). Here is an example, __perf_addr_filters_adjust() perf_event_stop() __perf_event_stop() x86_pmu_stop() (event->pmu->stop) intel_pmu_disable_event() intel_pmu_pebs_disable() __intel_pmu_pebs_disable() intel_pmu_drain_large_pebs() intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() Introduce __intel_pmu_quiesce() and __intel_pmu_resume() helpers and use them in intel_pmu_drain_large_pebs() to disable the full PMU around the intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() call, preventing reentry. Also add a warning in intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() when the full PMU is not disabled.

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.

arch/x86/events/intel/core.c
arch/x86/events/intel/ds.c
arch/x86/events/perf_event.h

What this is
PERFORMANCE EVENTS SUBSYSTEMMAINTAINERS section matched on arch/*/events/*/* · linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org · Supported

Check it on the machine

grep -wE 'CONFIG_CPU_SUP_INTEL|CONFIG_PERF_EVENTS' /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, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
  • forky, sidYnot built on 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
Y
built in where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it
Build switches
CONFIG_CPU_SUP_INTEL, CONFIG_PERF_EVENTS
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
2026-09-25 (24 days ago)source
CVSS
no vector published, unrated
Attack vector
not published
EPSS
0.17%, higher than 5.4% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV
not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency
unimportantsource
Subsystem
arch/x86

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

IntroducedFixed inCommit
6.46.18.53a5fe19dd8b3e
6.47.2.7c55599c0ec2a
6.47.3a56c03a397e2
6.3.700

Why the CNA scored it this way

The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-97960, 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.