# CVE-2026-98324: dmaengine: pxa: fix double counting of the hw descriptors

> A logic error in the Linux kernel PXA DMA driver causes double counting of descriptors, potentially leading to memory corruption or denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98324, GHSA-wrvr-2vch-mjpj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98324

## What is CVE-2026-98324?

CVE-2026-98324 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Oct 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:

dmaengine: pxa: fix double counting of the hw descriptors

pxad_alloc_desc() was converted from

        kzalloc(struct_size(sw_desc, hw_desc, nb_hw_desc), GFP_NOWAIT)

to kzalloc_flex(), which sets the __counted_by() counter sw_desc->nb_desc
itself - but only where the compiler has __builtin_counted_by_ref(), so
from gcc 15.1 or clang 22.1 on. The loop below it still increments
nb_desc, which makes it come out doubled there and correct elsewhere.

nb_desc is what pxad_free_desc() iterates over and what
set_updater_desc() indexes from, so set it explicitly and drop the
increment. The error path has to lower it to the number of descriptors
allocated so far, otherwise pxad_free_desc() would free entries that were
never allocated.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98324?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98324?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98324 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98324 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98324 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98324 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Oct 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-2026-98324 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-2026-98324/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98324/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98324
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98324
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98324

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98324/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.