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CVE-2026-98545
ata: libata-scsi: bound the ATA passthru sense descriptor writes
Published 2026-10-18 (today) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/ata. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-98545 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 | fixed | 6.12.113-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.113-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
When an ATA PASS-THROUGH command to an ATAPI device fails, the sense buffer holds the device's REQUEST SENSE reply, and ata_scsi_set_passthru_sense_fields() trusts its additional length byte, sb[7], when adding the ATA Status Return descriptor. A faulty or malicious device can use that to make the kernel read and write past the 96-byte buffer in three ways: - scsi_sense_desc_find() is passed sb[7] + 8 as the buffer length, so its clamp against sb[7] does nothing and the walk runs off the end. - A type-9 descriptor found near the end is filled in unchecked. - A new descriptor at sb[8 + len] needs len + 22 bytes, not len + 14, so len 75..82 writes up to 8 bytes past the end. Reproduced with KASAN under qemu, with the emulated ATAPI REQUEST SENSE reply patched: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in scsi_sense_desc_find+0x1a5/0x210 BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in ata_scsi_qc_complete+0x1a15/0x1a50 Both are gone with this patch, and a valid descriptor is still filled in.
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/ata/libata-scsi.c
- What this is
- LIBATA SUBSYSTEM (Serial and Parallel ATA drivers)MAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/ata/ · linux-ide@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- libata
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_ATA /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 libataPrints 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, sidb
- b
- built in on some flavours, a module on others
- Build switch
- CONFIG_ATA
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
- 2026-10-18 (today)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- not scored
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/ata
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.6.44 | 6.6.158 | c698f6deabf6 |
| 6.11 | 6.12.112 | d9a7147b9362 |
| 6.11 | 6.18.55 | 1603abb0c504 |
| 6.11 | 7.2.9 | 80fbb0bc4d11 |
| 6.11 | 7.3 | 80320b278fea |
| 6.10.3 | 0 | 0 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-98545, 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.