# CVE-2026-98818: mm/slab: do not wake up kswapd in __kfree_rcu_sheaf() > A deadlock in the Linux kernel memory allocator can cause a system hang when kfree_rcu is called under specific scheduler locks. - **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:** 18 Oct 2026 - **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-98818, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98818, GHSA-hqwf-4r5g-q2h4, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98818 ## What is CVE-2026-98818? CVE-2026-98818 is a denial of service 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: mm/slab: do not wake up kswapd in __kfree_rcu_sheaf() Since kfree_rcu() can be called under pi_lock (a raw spinlock in the scheduler), kfree_rcu() itself should never allocate memory with __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM as waking up kswapd ends up acquiring pi_lock, which leads to a deadlock. Reproducing the issue even intentionally was not straightforward. The set_cpus_allowed_force() path that is called under pi_lock is exercised very rarely, and competing tasks that allocate memory will most likely wake kswapd up. Therefore the existence of the deadlock was verified with a modified kernel that has a lockdep map for waking up kswapd: ====================================================== WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 7.2.0-rc1-slab-for-next+ #10 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ git/6660 is trying to acquire lock: ffff8e524533c550 (&p->pi_lock){-.-.}-{2:2}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20 but task is already holding lock: ffff8e57bffff1a0 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20 which lock already depends on the new lock. the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is: -> #2 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}: __lock_acquire+0x5a4/0xc50 lock_acquire.part.0+0xb7/0x240 lock_acquire+0x70/0x170 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x44/0x80 _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20 __wake_up_common_lock+0x31/0xa0 __wake_up+0x20/0x40 kswapd_wakeup_wake+0x7e/0x110 wakeup_kswapd+0x295/0x320 wake_all_kswapds+0xac/0x1a0 __alloc_pages_slowpath.constprop.0+0x282/0xf80 __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x32a/0x360 alloc_slab_page+0x2e/0x160 allocate_slab+0x82/0x420 new_slab+0x52/0xb0 refill_objects+0x13d/0x190 refill_sheaf+0x5d/0xd0 __pcs_replace_empty_main+0x230/0xb10 [...] -> #1 (kswapd_wakeup){-.-.}-{0:0}: __lock_acquire+0x5a4/0xc50 lock_sync.part.0+0x75/0x100 lock_sync+0x36/0x70 might_wakeup_kswapd+0x61/0xa0 __kfree_rcu_sheaf+0x33/0xd90 kvfree_call_rcu+0x1d4/0x3b0 set_cpus_allowed_force+0x163/0x220 cpuset_cpus_allowed_fallback+0x18b/0x240 select_fallback_rq+0x1e6/0x250 [...] -> #0 (&p->pi_lock){-.-.}-{2:2}: check_prev_add+0xe6/0xe00 validate_chain+0x51e/0x6e0 __lock_acquire+0x5a4/0xc50 lock_acquire.part.0+0xb7/0x240 lock_acquire+0x70/0x170 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x44/0x80 _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20 try_to_wake_up+0x77/0xa90 default_wake_function+0x27/0x60 autoremove_wake_function+0x23/0xb0 __wake_up_common+0xb8/0x170 __wake_up_common_lock+0x51/0xa0 __wake_up+0x20/0x40 kswapd_wakeup_wake+0x7e/0x110 wakeup_kswapd+0x295/0x320 wake_all_kswapds+0xac/0x1a0 __alloc_pages_slowpath.constprop.0+0x282/0xf80 __alloc_frozen_pages_noprof+0x32a/0x360 alloc_slab_page+0x2e/0x160 allocate_slab+0x82/0x420 new_slab+0x52/0xb0 refill_objects+0x13d/0x190 refill_sheaf+0x5d/0xd0 __pcs_replace_empty_main+0x230/0xb10 [...] other info that might help us debug this: Chain exists of: &p->pi_lock --> kswapd_wakeup --> &pgdat->kswapd_wait Possible unsafe locking scenario: CPU0 CPU1 ---- ---- lock(&pgdat->kswapd_wait); lock(kswapd_wakeup); lock(&pgdat->kswapd_wait); lock(&p->pi_lock); *** DEADLOCK *** 3 locks held by git/6660: #0: ffff8e519f0e9e20 (&type->i_mutex_dir_key#6){++++}-{4:4}, at: lookup_slow+0x2d/0x60 #1: ffffffff8a31c460 (kswapd_wakeup){-.-.}- ---truncated--- ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98818? ## How do I fix CVE-2026-98818? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2026-98818 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98818 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98818 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-98818 is a denial of service 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. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98818 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-2026-98818/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98818/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98818 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98818 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98818 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98818/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.