# CVE-2026-72084: scsi: target: Bound PR-OUT TransportID parsing to the received buffer

> A missing bounds check in the Linux kernel SCSI target allows a remote attacker to cause a kernel crash via a malformed iSCSI TransportID.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72084, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72084, GHSA-f335-4fhr-wm5c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72084

## What is CVE-2026-72084?

CVE-2026-72084 is a critical denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

scsi: target: Bound PR-OUT TransportID parsing to the received buffer

core_scsi3_decode_spec_i_port() and core_scsi3_emulate_register_and_move()
hand the raw PERSISTENT RESERVE OUT parameter buffer to
target_parse_pr_out_transport_id() without telling it how many bytes are
valid.  For an iSCSI TransportID (FORMAT CODE 01b),
iscsi_parse_pr_out_transport_id() locates the ",i,0x" ISID separator with
an unbounded strstr() (and on the error path prints the name with a further
unbounded "%s").  An initiator can submit a TransportID whose iSCSI name
contains neither a ",i,0x" substring nor a NUL terminator, filling the
parameter list to its end, so the scan runs off the end of the buffer.

When the parameter list spans more than one page the buffer is a multi-page
vmap (transport_kmap_data_sg()), so the over-read walks into the trailing
vmalloc guard page and oopses (KASAN: vmalloc-out-of-bounds in strstr).  It
is reachable by any fabric that delivers a PR OUT to a device exported
through an iSCSI TPG, including a guest via vhost-scsi.

Pass the number of received bytes down to the parser and validate the iSCSI
TransportID's own self-described length (ADDITIONAL LENGTH + 4) once, up
front: reject it if it is below the spc4r17 minimum or larger than the
received buffer, then bound the separator search, the ISID walk and the
name copy by that length.  This is the length check the callers already
perform after the parse (core_scsi3_decode_spec_i_port() compares tid_len
against tpdl, core_scsi3_emulate_register_and_move() validates it against
data_length), moved ahead of the scan.  Also drop the unbounded "%s" of the
unterminated name.

Add per-format explicit name-length checks before copying into i_str,
rather than silently truncating with min_t: for FORMAT CODE 00b reject if
the descriptor body (tid_len - 4 bytes) cannot fit in
i_str[TRANSPORT_IQN_LEN]; for FORMAT CODE 01b reject if the name portion
(from &buf[4] up to the separator) cannot fit.  Both checks make the bounds
intent explicit at each format branch.

While here, also reject a FORMAT CODE 01b TransportID whose ",i,0x"
separator sits at the very end of the descriptor: that leaves an empty ISID
and points the returned port nexus pointer at buf + tid_len, one past the
descriptor, which the registration code (__core_scsi3_locate_pr_reg(),
__core_scsi3_alloc_registration()) then dereferences as the ISID string --
the same over-read of the parameter buffer for a malformed descriptor.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72084?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72084?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72084 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72084 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72084 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72084 is a critical denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72084 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-72084/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72084/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72084
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72084
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72084

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72084/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.