# CVE-2026-97942: x86/alternatives: Exclude text poking against change_page_attr()

> A race condition in the Linux kernel x86 alternatives code can cause a kernel panic when text poking conflicts with page attribute changes.

- **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:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-97942, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97942, GHSA-g4fw-gv65-xh5g, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97942

## What is CVE-2026-97942?

CVE-2026-97942 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:

x86/alternatives: Exclude text poking against change_page_attr()

From time to time, the following BUG can be observed
in the x86 alternatives patching code [0]:

  > kernel BUG at arch/x86/kernel/alternative.c:2576!
  > Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
  > CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 355 Comm: (udev-worker) Not tainted 7.1.3-1-default #1 PREEMPT(full) openSUSE Tumbleweed  8c1795b03ec64f997e57a8ad38b1161e3b98da64
  > Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS unknown 02/02/2022
  > RIP: 0010:__text_poke+0x2aa/0x450
  > Call Trace:
  >  <TASK>
  >  smp_text_poke_batch_finish+0x2a7/0x320
  >  __static_call_transform+0xb7/0x220
  >  arch_static_call_transform+0x5b/0xb0
  >  __static_call_init+0xe9/0x270
  >  static_call_module_notify+0x11f/0x150
  >  notifier_call_chain+0x61/0xe0
  >  blocking_notifier_call_chain_robust+0x63/0xc0
  >  load_module+0x1c92/0x20c0
  >  init_module_from_file+0xd8/0x140
  >  idempotent_init_module+0x100/0x2f0
  >  __x64_sys_finit_module+0x71/0xe0
  >  do_syscall_64+0xe1/0x610
  >  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

which matches the following BUG_ON() in alternative.c:

	/*
	 * If something went wrong, crash and burn since recovery paths are not
	 * implemented.
	 */
	BUG_ON(!pages[0] || (cross_page_boundary && !pages[1]));

This can happen if vmalloc_to_page() fails, for any reason. Such can happen
if text poking races with CPA, which can possibly result in the collapsing
of page tables (or breaking of PMD hugepages). It is not a problem for most
users of vmalloc_to_page() (they solely own the vmalloc'd range) but, when
CONFIG_ARCH_HAS_EXECMEM_ROX=y, various modules own a single execmem vmalloc
range, and can call set_memory_*() in parallel on it. This can happen to
race against __text_poke and cause havoc in vmalloc_to_page().

Fix it by excluding against CPA using the init_mm mmap read lock.

[ dhansen: Fix up SoB ordering. The actual code flow here was:
	   Pedro=>Lorenzo=>Mike=>Me which is reflected in the SoB chain
	   now. I *believe* Mike simply picked up Lorenzo's update to
	   Pedro's post from the Link ]

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97942?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-97942?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-97942 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97942 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-97942 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-97942 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97942 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-2026-97942/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97942/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-97942
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97942
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-97942

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-97942/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.