# CVE-2026-98953: devlink: fix devlink_rel reference leak when notify work is pending


- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 23 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-98953, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98953, GHSA-5648-x8rm-28p3, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98953

## What is CVE-2026-98953?

CVE-2026-98953 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

devlink: fix devlink_rel reference leak when notify work is pending

devlink_rel_nested_in_notify_work_schedule() takes a reference on the
devlink_rel for the notify work and then queues the work, ignoring the
return value of schedule_delayed_work(). If the work is already pending,
nothing new is queued, the work runs only once and drops only one
reference, so the extra one is leaked together with the devlink_rel and
its index in devlink_rels.

This is easy to hit. devl_register() of a nested instance queues the
work, and if the instance is unregistered before the work has run,
devlink_rel_put() queues it again while it is still pending. The work
also keeps rescheduling itself for as long as the parent devlink lock
cannot be taken, which widens the window. Registering and unregistering
a nested devlink instance 100 times while holding the parent lock leaks
all 100 devlink_rel objects.

The reschedule path in devlink_rel_nested_in_notify_work() has the same
problem: if the work was queued again while it was running, the
reference it holds is never dropped.

Drop the reference in both places when the work was already pending.
The pending work holds its own reference, so this can not be the last
one.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98953?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-98953?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-98953 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98953 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-98953 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98953 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 23 Oct 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98953 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-2026-98953/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98953/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98953
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98953
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98953

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98953/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.