# CVE-2026-97530: scsi: qla2xxx: Fix soft lockup polling continuation IOCB signature

> A remote attacker can cause a CPU soft lockup in the Linux kernel by sending crafted Fibre Channel frames to the qla2xxx driver.

- **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:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-104160, BELL-CVE-2026-97530, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97530, GHSA-m367-5qfc-ghvx, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97530

## What is CVE-2026-97530?

CVE-2026-97530 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 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: Fix soft lockup polling continuation IOCB signature

qla27xx_copy_multiple_pkt() and qla27xx_copy_fpin_pkt() poll
rsp_q->ring_ptr->signature for RESPONSE_PROCESSED (0xDEADDEAD) to decide
whether the next continuation IOCB has arrived, spinning on cpu_relax()
without advancing the ring or decrementing the entry count while it has
not. response_t::signature lives at byte offset 60, but a continuation
IOCB (sts_cont_entry_t / struct sts_cont_entry_ext) carries raw FC frame
payload at that offset (data[56..59]). A received frame whose payload
bytes happen to equal 0xDEADDEAD is therefore misread as "not yet
arrived", and the loop spins forever in interrupt/DPC context, causing a
CPU soft lockup.

The poll is also unnecessary: callers of qla27xx_copy_multiple_pkt()
(PT_LS4_UNSOL and the NVMe purls path) already gate on
qla_chk_cont_iocb_avail(), which guarantees all entry_count IOCBs are
present before copying begins. The sibling helper
__qla_copy_purex_to_buffer() already drops the signature poll and relies
on the entry_type == STATUS_CONT_TYPE guard instead.

Remove the signature busy-wait from both helpers, keeping the entry_type
guard, and gate the FPIN path with qla_chk_cont_iocb_avail() so it defers
and re-processes on the next interrupt once all continuation IOCBs have
arrived, mirroring the ELS_AUTH_ELS and PT_LS4_UNSOL arms. With this the
signature field is never read on a continuation IOCB, eliminating the
payload-aliasing lockup.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97530?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97530?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-97530 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97530 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97530 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97530 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 25 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-2026-97530 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-2026-97530/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97530/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97530
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97530
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97530

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97530/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.