CVE-2026-90130 vdpa_sim: fix cleanup after worker creation failure
A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel's vdpa_sim driver causes a general protection fault and system crash when worker creation fails.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-90130?
CVE-2026-90130 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 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:
vdpa_sim: fix cleanup after worker creation failure
vdpasim_create() leaves vdpasim->worker as an ERR_PTR when kthread_run_worker() fails. The error path then drops the device reference, which releases the partially initialized simulator.
vdpasim_free() unconditionally passes the worker pointer to kthread_destroy_worker(), so the ERR_PTR is dereferenced and can trigger a general protection fault.
Store the worker error, clear the pointer, and only clean up the worker when it was successfully initialized. Also make the release path tolerate partially initialized objects by guarding virtqueue and IOTLB cleanup, since the same release path can be reached from other initialization failures.
I found this bug myself, though the patch was written with AI assistance.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90130?
How do I fix CVE-2026-90130?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-90130 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90130 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-102032, BELL-CVE-2026-90130, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90130, GHSA-fv2p-wqj9-c85j, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90130.