CVE-2026-98815 nvme: fix cdev lifetime
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel NVMe driver allows local attackers to cause a system crash or potentially escalate privileges.
- 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-2026-98815?
CVE-2026-98815 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 18 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:
nvme: fix cdev lifetime
Sashiko bot reported a potential problem for the cdev lifetime in [0] - the code there is heavily based on the NVMe code.
Currently the NS head .open and .release file_operations methods take and put a reference to the nvme_ns_head to ensure that this structure does not disappear while we open fds for that cdev.
In multipath mode, when we teardown the NS head, we call nvme_cdev_del() -> cdev_device_del() -> cdev_del(). However after cdev_del() returns, cdevs already open will remain and their fops will still be callable. As such, we can still reference the cdev after the nvme_ns_head reference count drops to 0 (and is freed).
This can be shown with an application which delays between opening the cdev and issuing the ioctl while the NS head is being torn down:
# ./ioctl_file /dev/ng1n1 & # waiting 10 seconds ....
# ./ini_nvme_teardown.sh [ 21.221718] nvme nvme1: Removing ctrl: NQN "nvme-test-target" [ 21.274609] nvme nvme2: Removing ctrl: NQN "nvme-test-target" # now going to issue ioctl .... [ 26.549285] ================================================================== [ 26.550841] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.552352] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88811e7fa170 by task ioctl_file/237 [ 26.553805] [ 26.554227] CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 237 Comm: ioctl_file Not tainted 7.2.0-rc1-00004-g6852a10e32d4 #921 PREEMPT(lazy) [ 26.554236] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 26.554241] Call Trace: [ 26.554245] <TASK> [ 26.554248] dump_stack_lvl+0x68/0xa0 [ 26.554266] print_report+0x10d/0x5d0 [ 26.554276] ? __virt_addr_valid+0x21d/0x3f0 [ 26.554287] ? cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.554292] kasan_report+0x96/0xd0 [ 26.554300] ? cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.554307] cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.554313] __fput+0x7bc/0xa70 [ 26.554322] fput_close_sync+0xd8/0x190 [ 26.554328] ? __pfx_fput_close_sync+0x10/0x10 [ 26.554337] __x64_sys_close+0x79/0xd0 [ 26.554344] do_syscall_64+0x117/0x6b0 [ 26.554351] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [ 26.554358] RIP: 0033:0x7f938c067727 [ 26.554364] Code: 48 89 fa 4c 89 df e8 28 ad 00 00 8b 93 08 03 00 00 59 5e 48 83 f8 fc 74 1a 5b c3 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 48 8b 44 24 10 0f 05 <5bf [ 26.554369] RSP: 002b:00007fff49f05980 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000003 [ 26.554376] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f938bfd7780 RCX: 00007f938c067727 [ 26.554380] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000003 [ 26.554383] RBP: 00007fff49f05a10 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 26.554386] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 0000000000000000 [ 26.554389] R13: 00007fff49f05b40 R14: 00007f938c207000 R15: 000055c148471d78 [ 26.554397] </TASK> [ 26.554399] [ 26.575612] Allocated by task 100: [ 26.575871] kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 [ 26.576157] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 26.576418] __kasan_kmalloc+0x7f/0x90 [ 26.576668] __kmalloc_noprof+0x281/0x6c0 [ 26.576938] nvme_alloc_ns+0x7f7/0x3170 [ 26.577206] nvme_scan_ns+0x508/0x880 [ 26.577449] async_run_entry_fn+0x8c/0x350 [ 26.577723] process_scheduled_works+0xb6f/0x1a00 [ 26.578034] worker_thread+0x4ad/0xb40 [ 26.578283] kthread+0x34f/0x450 [ 26.578501] ret_from_fork+0x563/0x800 [ 26.578752] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 26.579012] [ 26.579124] Freed by task 237: [ 26.579335] kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 [ 26.579596] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 26.579855] kasan_save_free_info+0x3a/0x60 [ 26.580131] __kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70 [ 26.580388] kfree+0x321/0x500 [ 26.580591] nvme_ns_head_chr_release+0x39/0x50 [ 26.580883] __fput+0x352/0xa70 [ 26.581095] fput_close_sync+0xd8/0x190 [ 26.581350] __x64_sys_close+0x79/0xd0 [ 26.581595] do_syscall_64+0x117/0x6b0 [ 26.581842] entry_SYSCAL ---truncated---
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98815?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98815?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-98815 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98815 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-109025, BELL-CVE-2026-98815, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98815, GHSA-x2m3-gxmv-qw6j, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98815.