# CVE-2026-23355: ata: libata: cancel pending work after clearing deferred_qc

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's libata subsystem can trigger a kernel warning and potential denial of service due to improper cancellation of deferred work items.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 26 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-23355, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23355, GHSA-8672-3h73-hv9p, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23355

## What is CVE-2026-23355?

CVE-2026-23355 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ata: libata: cancel pending work after clearing deferred_qc

Syzbot reported a WARN_ON() in ata_scsi_deferred_qc_work(), caused by
ap->ops->qc_defer() returning non-zero before issuing the deferred qc.

ata_scsi_schedule_deferred_qc() is called during each command completion.
This function will check if there is a deferred QC, and if
ap->ops->qc_defer() returns zero, meaning that it is possible to queue the
deferred qc at this time (without being deferred), then it will queue the
work which will issue the deferred qc.

Once the work get to run, which can potentially be a very long time after
the work was scheduled, there is a WARN_ON() if ap->ops->qc_defer() returns
non-zero.

While we hold the ap->lock both when assigning and clearing deferred_qc,
and the work itself holds the ap->lock, the code currently does not cancel
the work after clearing the deferred qc.

This means that the following scenario can happen:
1) One or several NCQ commands are queued.
2) A non-NCQ command is queued, gets stored in ap->deferred_qc.
3) Last NCQ command gets completed, work is queued to issue the deferred
   qc.
4) Timeout or error happens, ap->deferred_qc is cleared. The queued work is
   currently NOT canceled.
5) Port is reset.
6) One or several NCQ commands are queued.
7) A non-NCQ command is queued, gets stored in ap->deferred_qc.
8) Work is finally run. Yet at this time, there is still NCQ commands in
   flight.

The work in 8) really belongs to the non-NCQ command in 2), not to the
non-NCQ command in 7). The reason why the work is executed when it is not
supposed to, is because it was never canceled when ap->deferred_qc was
cleared in 4). Thus, ensure that we always cancel the work after clearing
ap->deferred_qc.

Another potential fix would have been to let ata_scsi_deferred_qc_work() do
nothing if ap->ops->qc_defer() returns non-zero. However, canceling the
work when clearing ap->deferred_qc seems slightly more logical, as we hold
the ap->lock when clearing ap->deferred_qc, so we know that the work cannot
be holding the lock. (The function could be waiting for the lock, but that
is okay since it will do nothing if ap->deferred_qc is not set.)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23355?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23355?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-23355 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23355 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23355 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23355 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23355 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23355/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23355/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23355
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23355
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23355

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23355/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.