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CVE-2026-98154
nvme-rdma: fix -EIO cleanup order in queue_rq
Published 2026-09-25 (24 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-2026-98154 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 | 7.2.7-1 | 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. |
| 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
On -EIO, the RDMA queue_rq path reports a host path error and then still cleans up the command and unmaps the SQE DMA. The path error helper completes the request, so that is double cleanup and DMA unmap after the request is already complete. Unmap the SQE first, then report the host path error. Skip the outer command cleanup on that path.
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/rdma.c
- What this is
- NVM EXPRESS DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/nvme/host/ · linux-nvme@lists.infradead.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- nvme_rdma
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_NVME_RDMA /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_rdmaPrints 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 switch
- CONFIG_NVME_RDMA
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
- 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
- 0.11%, higher than 1.3% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 5.12 | 5.15.222 | ccf37fff526c |
| 5.12 | 6.1.189 | c2459519b395 |
| 5.12 | 6.6.158 | 965804b20c0f |
| 5.12 | 6.12.111 | a41e7fc8d244 |
| 5.12 | 6.18.53 | cf3e706963ff |
| 5.12 | 7.2.7 | 171b993a4aed |
| 5.12 | 7.3 | d61828199c6c |
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:LAttack vector, local
- The bug is in the -EIO error path of nvme_rdma_queue_rq(), reached when a local user submits block I/O to an nvme-rdma namespace. The -EIO comes from ib_dma_map_sg() failing in nvme_rdma_dma_map_req() or from the HCA's internal-error state in ib_post_send(). The NVMe-oF target sends no data that causes it, so the vector is local.
- AC:HAttack complexity, high
- The path needs a DMA mapping failure or an mlx4/mlx5 HCA in MLX*_DEVICE_STATE_INTERNAL_ERROR, which the attacker can't cause on demand. Turning the second nvme_cleanup_cmd()/sqe unmap into corruption also needs the freed tag to be reused (for example by a discard with RQF_SPECIAL_PAYLOAD) between completion and the stale cleanup.
- PR:LPrivileges required, low
- The attacker only needs to issue ordinary I/O, including discards, to a filesystem or block device backed by an nvme-rdma namespace. An unprivileged user with write access can do that. Setting up the NVMe-oF connection is an admin step the attacker does not need to perform.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- No victim action is needed; the attacker's own I/O submissions drive nvme_rdma_queue_rq() into the failing path.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The corruption hits host kernel memory and the host's own DMA mappings, inside the kernel's security authority. No guest, IOMMU or sandbox boundary is crossed.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- nvme_host_path_error() completes the request and may free its tag. The later nvme_cleanup_cmd() can then kfree() the special_vec range buffer of a request that reused the tag (a use-after-free), and ib_dma_unmap_single() can tear down another request's sqe mapping. Both are memory-corruption primitives that could leak data.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- Freeing a live discard range buffer and unmapping a reused request's command DMA mapping lets freed memory be reallocated while the HCA or driver still uses it. That can corrupt kernel heap objects or change the NVMe command sent to the target.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The double cleanup of a completed or requeued request can cause a double kfree, a DMA-unmap fault or a KASAN/oops, which crashes the host kernel.