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CVE-2026-98150
bpf: Fix BPF_F_CPU validation for sparse CPU IDs
Published 2026-09-25 (24 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem include/linux. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-98150 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 | 7.2.7-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.7-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.7-1 | Update 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
BPF_F_CPU stores the target CPU ID in the upper 32 bits of the map operation flags. bpf_map_check_op_flags() currently compares that ID with num_possible_cpus(), which is the number of possible CPUs rather than a bound on CPU IDs. On an arm64 QEMU guest with a CPU device-tree hole, the possible CPU mask was 0,2-3. A userspace program using raw bpf() syscalls creates a BPF_MAP_TYPE_PERCPU_ARRAY and performs update and lookup operations for each CPU by setting BPF_F_CPU and the CPU ID in the flags. With the old check, CPU 1 is incorrectly accepted while valid CPU 3 is rejected with -ERANGE. The CPU 1 update then reaches the per-CPU map access path and triggers: Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ... pc : __pi_memcpy_generic+0x5c/0x22c lr : bpf_percpu_array_update+0x2dc/0x2e8 Call trace: __pi_memcpy_generic bpf_map_update_value map_update_elem __sys_bpf Check the CPU ID against nr_cpu_ids and cpu_possible() instead. This rejects CPU IDs outside the valid range and CPUs absent from the possible mask, while allowing valid sparse CPU IDs.
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.
include/linux/bpf.h
- What this is
- BPF [CORE]MAINTAINERS section matched on include/linux/bpf* · bpf@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Not established. This site could not find the build rule for the affected file in the kernel trees Debian ships, so it has no answer about whether Debian compiles this code. Read that as unknown, never as absent.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid?
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
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
Signals
- Published
- 2026-09-25 (24 days ago)source
- CVSS
- 7.0 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.10%, higher than 0.9% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- include/linux
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 7.0 | 7.2.7 | bdc5941f6eee |
| 7.0 | 7.3 | ed54bf564ac5 |
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 out-of-range CPU ID arrives in attr->flags of the local bpf(2) BPF_MAP_UPDATE_ELEM/LOOKUP_ELEM syscall (map_update_elem/map_lookup_elem -> bpf_map_check_op_flags); no network or adjacent protocol carries it.
- AC:HAttack complexity, high
- The check only lets through a CPU ID in a hole of the possible-CPU mask (e.g. 0,2-3 on arm64 device-tree systems). That topology comes from firmware/hardware and the attacker can't create it. It also needs a permissive BPF setup, and where the stray per_cpu_ptr() lands (unmapped init memory vs mapped .data) depends on percpu allocator placement.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- BPF_MAP_TYPE_PERCPU_ARRAY/PERCPU_HASH are in map_create()'s unprivileged list when unprivileged_bpf_disabled=0 or with a delegated BPF token, and map_update_elem/map_lookup_elem check only FMODE_CAN_WRITE/READ on the map fd, not a capability.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- The attacker creates or opens the per-CPU map and issues the update/lookup with BPF_F_CPU and a hole CPU ID entirely on their own; no other user acts.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The bad access corrupts or reads kernel memory within the same kernel security authority; no VM, IOMMU or sandbox boundary is crossed.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- bpf_percpu_array_copy() copies value_size bytes from per_cpu_ptr(pptr, cpu) for a missing CPU whose __per_cpu_offset is 0, i.e. from a stray kernel address, back to userspace via BPF_MAP_LOOKUP_ELEM, and the attacker can repeat it.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- bpf_percpu_array_update() does copy_map_value() of attacker-supplied value bytes to per_cpu_ptr(pptr, cpu) for the missing CPU. That is an out-of-bounds write of controlled data to an address outside any valid per-CPU unit, which can land in kernel .data past __init_end.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- As the fix commit shows, the update faults in __pi_memcpy_generic from bpf_percpu_array_update on unmapped memory (the freed/vunmapped __init region on arm64), causing a kernel oops.