# CVE-2026-98386: scsi: qla2xxx: Use memset_io() to clear QLAFX00 request ring slot

> A Linux kernel bug in the qla2xxx driver causes a system crash on ARM64 when clearing request ring slots using invalid memory instructions.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-108144, BELL-CVE-2026-98386, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98386, GHSA-xqf4-fcfm-9wq2, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98386

## What is CVE-2026-98386?

CVE-2026-98386 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 14 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:

scsi: qla2xxx: Use memset_io() to clear QLAFX00 request ring slot

For QLAFX00 the request ring is ioremapped device I/O memory
(ha->iobase + req_que_off), not DMA-coherent RAM, which is why the rest
of the FX00 path accesses it through memcpy_toio() and the wrt_reg_*
helpers. __qla2x00_alloc_iocbs() however zeroed the producer slot with a
plain memset(). On architectures such as ARM64 a regular memset() may
emit unaligned or block-zeroing instructions (e.g. DC ZVA) that are
invalid on Device memory, leading to a synchronous external abort.

Use memset_io() to clear the slot for QLAFX00, matching the I/O
accessors used elsewhere on this ring. Other adapters keep the plain
memset() on their DMA-coherent rings. The zero-fill is retained for FX00
because its IOCB builders (e.g. qlafx00_fxdisc_iocb()) copy only part of
the entry and rely on the unused tail being pre-zeroed.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98386?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98386?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98386 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98386 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98386 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98386 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 14 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-2026-98386 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-2026-98386/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98386/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98386
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98386
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98386

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98386/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.