CVE-2026-93196 nvdimm: virtio_pmem: refcount requests for token lifetime
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's virtio_pmem driver allows attackers to cause a system crash or potentially execute arbitrary code.
- 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-2026-93196?
CVE-2026-93196 is a high-severity use after free 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:
nvdimm: virtio_pmem: refcount requests for token lifetime
KASAN reports slab-use-after-free in __wake_up_common(): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __wake_up_common+0x114/0x160 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88810fdcb710 by task swapper/0/0
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.19.0-next-20260220-00006-g1eae5f204ec3 #4 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS Arch Linux 1.17.0-2-2 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <IRQ> dump_stack_lvl+0x6d/0xb0 print_report+0x170/0x4e2 ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 ? __virt_addr_valid+0x1dc/0x380 kasan_report+0xbc/0xf0 ? __wake_up_common+0x114/0x160 ? __wake_up_common+0x114/0x160 __wake_up_common+0x114/0x160 ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 __wake_up+0x36/0x60 virtio_pmem_host_ack+0x11d/0x3b0 ? sched_balance_domains+0x29f/0xb00 ? __pfx_virtio_pmem_host_ack+0x10/0x10 ? _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x98/0x100 ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x10/0x10 vring_interrupt+0x1c9/0x5e0 ? __pfx_vp_interrupt+0x10/0x10 vp_vring_interrupt+0x87/0x100 ? __pfx_vp_interrupt+0x10/0x10 __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x17f/0x550 ? __pfx__raw_spin_lock+0x10/0x10 handle_irq_event+0xab/0x1c0 handle_fasteoi_irq+0x276/0xae0 __common_interrupt+0x65/0x130 common_interrupt+0x78/0xa0 </IRQ>
virtio_pmem_host_ack() wakes a request that has already been freed by the submitter.
This happens when the request token is still reachable via the virtqueue, but virtio_pmem_flush() returns and frees it.
Fix the token lifetime by refcounting struct virtio_pmem_request. virtio_pmem_flush() holds a submitter reference, and the virtqueue holds an extra reference once the request is queued. The completion path drops the virtqueue reference, and the submitter drops its reference before returning.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-93196?
How do I fix CVE-2026-93196?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-93196 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-93196 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-102605, BELL-CVE-2026-93196, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-93196, GHSA-8m98-gqrc-3mr3, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-93196.