CVE-2026-97983 vduse: return compat ioctl results directly
A flaw in the Linux kernel's vduse module allows local attackers to leak file descriptors, potentially leading to resource exhaustion and denial of service.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-97983?
CVE-2026-97983 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:
vduse: return compat ioctl results directly
The compat handler handles VDUSE_IOTLB_GET_FD and VDUSE_VQ_GET_INFO, but then calls the native handler. Their different command sizes make native dispatch return -ENOIOCTLCMD.
For GET_FD, this overwrites receive_fd()'s return value after the descriptor is installed, leaking one fd per call. Return handled compat results directly and use native dispatch only for other commands.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-97983?
How do I fix CVE-2026-97983?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-97983 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-97983 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97983, GHSA-qqc3-34rp-574r, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97983.