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CVE-2026-98400
s390/ipl: Fix NULL deref in kdump without re-IPL parm block
Published 2026-10-14 (4 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem arch/s390. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-98400 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 | fixed | 6.12.111-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed 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. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Some IPL types, like HMC FTP boot or QEMU direct kernel boot, might not provide an IPL parameter block. In this case, reipl_type_init() selects IPL_TYPE_UNKNOWN, and reipl_block_actual remains NULL. kdump passes the re-IPL parameter block to the dump kernel through os_info. Before commit 3b9678472bab ("s390/ipl: correct kdump reipl block checksum calculation"), the os_info entry was added only for IPL types which initialized reipl_block_actual. That commit moved the os_info update to machine_crash_shutdown(), making it unconditional. As a result, set_os_info_reipl_block() dereferences reipl_block_actual for IPL_TYPE_UNKNOWN. This may happen to work by chance when address zero contains readable lowcore data and the resulting empty os_info entry is ignored by the dump kernel. Skip the os_info update when no re-IPL parameter block is available. Kdump then collect the dump and reboot without setting re-IPL parameter block.
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/s390/kernel/ipl.c
- What this is
- S390 ARCHITECTUREMAINTAINERS section matched on arch/s390/ · linux-s390@vger.kernel.org · Supported
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, sidy
- y
- built into the kernel image on every flavour - only a patch removes it
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 Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-10-14 (4 days ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.21%, higher than 10.4% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- arch/s390
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 4.17 | 6.6.158 | 030e88812435 |
| 4.17 | 6.12.111 | 92d0829eae25 |
| 4.17 | 6.18.53 | 50f9c40768e8 |
| 4.17 | 7.2.7 | b6bf82bc5e00 |
| 4.17 | 7.3 | 7f918871112e |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-98400, 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.