CVE-2026-98838 vt: skip screen update for DEC alignment test on backgroup consoles
A local attacker can trigger an out-of-bounds read in the Linux kernel VT subsystem via specific font operations, potentially causing a crash or privilege escalation.
- 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-2026-98838?
CVE-2026-98838 is a memory corruption 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:
vt: skip screen update for DEC alignment test on backgroup consoles
[BUG] Recently, we encountered a KASAN warning as follows:
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in fb_pad_aligned_buffer+0x11f/0x140 Read of size 1 at addr ff1100015fd9f6a4 by task tty_fbcon_oob/1239 CPU: 7 UID: 0 PID: 1239 Comm: tty_fbcon_oob Not tainted 7.3.0-rc1 #100 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-4.fc41 04/01/2014 Call Trace: <TASK> ... kasan_report+0xf0/0x120 fb_pad_aligned_buffer+0x11f/0x140 ccw_putcs+0x86c/0xa80 fbcon_putcs+0x338/0x410 do_update_region+0x21d/0x450 do_con_write+0x1e0e/0x4880 con_write+0x13/0x80 n_tty_write+0x374/0x1010 file_tty_write.isra.0+0x404/0x7a0 ...
reproduce: 1) open /dev/tty0, set a KDFONTOP ioctl with op.op = KD_FONT_OP_SET, op.width = 8 and op.height = 16 (visible VC1) 2) open /dev/tty1, set a KDFONTOP ioctl with op.op = KD_FONT_OP_SET, op.width = 28 and op.height = 24 (invisible VC2) 3) echo 3 > /sys/devices/virtual/graphics/fbcon/rotate_all 4) write EShash8(esc hash8) to tty1
[CAUSE] All VCs render to the framebuffer. setfont only modifies the target VC's font without resizing the framebuffer backing buffer (par->rotated.buf); the buffer is only resized for the visible VC (fbcon_do_set_font -> ... -> vc_do_resize -> update_screen). This relies on the con_should_update() check performed before every update_region().
However, the ESC # 8 path (do_con_trol -> do_update_region) omits the con_should_update() check. After changing the font size of an invisible VC, do_update_region() fills using the new font size against a buffer that was never resized, causing an out-of-bounds access.
[FIX] Only push the update when the console is visible and not blanked, add the con_should_update() check in the do_con_trol() like every other call site of do_update_region() (update_region(), invert_screen(), ...).
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98838?
How do I fix CVE-2026-98838?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.
Is CVE-2026-98838 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98838 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-109248, BELL-CVE-2026-98838, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98838, GHSA-798g-xwjp-798r, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98838.