# CVE-2026-97918: tracing: Undo the registration when enabling the histogram trigger fails

> A use-after-free in the Linux kernel tracing subsystem allows local attackers with high privileges to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **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-104526, BELL-CVE-2026-97918, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97918, GHSA-rfhv-4p96-vm65, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97918

## What is CVE-2026-97918?

CVE-2026-97918 is an 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:

tracing: Undo the registration when enabling the histogram trigger fails

Commit 6f86bdeab633 ("tracing: Fix bad hist from corrupting named_triggers
list") described how a trigger that is registered but not on file->triggers
ends up freed while still on the global named_triggers list, and moved the
registration down so that hist_trigger_enable() follows it immediately. One
path still gets there. hist_trigger_enable() adds the trigger and takes it
straight back out when the event cannot be enabled:

	list_add_tail_rcu(&data->list, &file->triggers);

	update_cond_flag(file);

	if (trace_event_trigger_enable_disable(file, 1) < 0) {
		list_del_rcu(&data->list);
		update_cond_flag(file);
		ret--;
	}

so the list walk in hist_unregister_trigger() matches nothing, test stays
NULL, and the ->free() that would call del_named_trigger() is skipped.
out_unreg falls through to out_free, which frees the trigger anyway:

 BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in find_named_trigger+0xac/0xc0
 Read of size 8 at addr ffff8880091d3160 by task init/1
  find_named_trigger+0xac/0xc0
  hist_register_trigger+0xc1/0xa00
  event_hist_trigger_parse+0x3146/0x6af0
  event_trigger_write+0xce/0x160
 Freed by task 69:
  kfree+0x154/0x420
  trigger_kthread_fn+0xfd/0x160

Leave the trigger where hist_unregister_trigger() can find it and let that
undo the registration, which is the only code that knows all of what
cmd_ops->init() took: the named list entry, the hist_pad reference, the
reference on the trigger a named histogram is shared with, and the copied
cmd_ops. It also pairs the failed trace_event_trigger_enable_disable(),
whose sm_ref and buffered event reference are otherwise left behind.

Since ->free() releases trigger_data and, for a trigger that does not share
its histogram, hist_data with it, out_unreg can no longer fall through to
out_free. For a trigger that does share, hist_register_trigger() has
already destroyed the caller's hist_data, so the fall-through was reading
freed memory there as well.

Move the enable_timestamps check in hist_unregister_trigger() above the
->free() call for the same reason: hist_data does not outlive it once the
trigger being removed is the one that owns it.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97918?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97918?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-97918 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97918 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97918 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97918 is an 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-2026-97918 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-2026-97918/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97918/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97918
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97918
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97918

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97918/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.