# CVE-2026-89842: scsi: qla2xxx: Skip NVMe LS reject IOCB when FW not started

> A flaw in the qla2xxx NVMe driver allows denial of service by writing to firmware registers when firmware is not started.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-101331, BELL-CVE-2026-89842, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89842, GHSA-3frv-hcwj-933c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89842

## What is CVE-2026-89842?

CVE-2026-89842 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Sep 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:

scsi: qla2xxx: Skip NVMe LS reject IOCB when FW not started

qla_nvme_xmt_ls_rsp() bails out to the out: label when firmware is not
started (!ha->flags.fw_started), but the out: path unconditionally calls
qla_nvme_ls_reject_iocb(), which ends in qla2x00_start_iocbs() and an
unconditional doorbell write to the request queue in-pointer register.
This rings the firmware doorbell and queues an IOCB that stopped or
resetting firmware cannot consume, and touches MMIO during the reset/EEH
window where fw_started is also clear.

Only emit the LS reject IOCB (and ring the doorbell) when fw_started is
set; otherwise just clean up and return. The post-allocation failure
cases (SRB alloc / qla2x00_start_sp() failure) run with firmware started
and still send the reject. Apply the same guard to the reject emission
in qla2xxx_process_purls_pkt().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89842?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-89842?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-89842 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89842 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-89842 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-89842 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 16 Sep 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-2026-89842 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-2026-89842/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89842/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89842
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89842
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-89842

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89842/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.