CVE-2026-97916 accel/ivpu: Validate firmware log buffer metadata
A race condition in the Linux kernel's NPU driver allows firmware to trigger out-of-bounds memory access, potentially causing crashes or code execution.
- 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-2026-97916?
CVE-2026-97916 is a 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:
accel/ivpu: Validate firmware log buffer metadata
The tracing log headers parsed by fw_log_print_buffer() reside in DMA-shared BOs that the NPU firmware can write to.
fw_log_from_bo() validated log->header_size and log->size, but fw_log_print_buffer() re-read those same fields from shared memory afterwards, allowing a TOCTOU where firmware changes them between the check and the use, and making the host dereference out-of-bounds addresses while printing logs.
Snapshot the validated values once with READ_ONCE() and pass them down explicitly in a new struct ivpu_fw_log_desc instead of re-reading them from the shared struct.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97916?
How do I fix CVE-2026-97916?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2026-97916 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97916 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-104789, BELL-CVE-2026-97916, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97916, GHSA-9698-pw26-h6mc, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97916.