# CVE-2026-97531: scsi: qla2xxx: Skip vport under deletion in report ID acquisition

> A race condition in the qla2xxx SCSI driver allows use-after-free, potentially leading to code execution or system crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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-104693, BELL-CVE-2026-97531, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97531, GHSA-pr28-3mcx-gcmr, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97531

## What is CVE-2026-97531?

CVE-2026-97531 is a high-severity use after free 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: Skip vport under deletion in report ID acquisition

qla24xx_report_id_acquisition() format-1 handling walks ha->vp_list under
vport_slock, takes a vref_count on the matching vport and calls
qla_update_host_map() to register its port id.

A vport teardown via qla24xx_vport_delete() sets VPORT_DELETE, then
qla24xx_disable_vp() removes the vport from the host_map btree and zeroes
vha->d_id (RESET_AL_PA). The vport is only unlinked from vp_list later,
in qla24xx_deallocate_vp_id(), which clears vp_map[idx] (RESET_VP_IDX)
but does not touch host_map. In the window in between, report ID
acquisition can still find the vport on vp_list and call
qla_update_host_map(); with d_id already zeroed it takes the
btree_insert32() path and re-inserts the dying vport into host_map.
Nothing cleans that entry afterwards, so once scsi_host_put() frees the
vha a later host_map lookup dereferences freed memory.

Skip a vport that has VPORT_DELETE set before taking the reference, so it
is neither re-registered nor scheduled for DPC re-registration. This
mirrors the existing guard in qla2x00_alert_all_vps().

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97531?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97531?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-97531 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97531 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97531 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97531 is a high-severity use after free 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-2026-97531 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-2026-97531/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97531/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97531
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97531
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97531

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97531/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.