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TI-2026-61172 Aliases CVE-2026-90129GHSA-mrw4-8pgr-v6w5

virtio_balloon: quiesce balloon work before device shutdown

Priority LOW 22Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
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Privileges required
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User interaction
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Attack complexity
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Impact type
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Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix

No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio_balloon: quiesce balloon work before device shutdown Commit 8bd2fa086a04 ("virtio: break and reset virtio devices on device_shutdown()") added a generic virtio bus .shutdown handler that breaks and resets every virtio device during device_shutdown(), i.e. on reboot and kexec. virtio_balloon provides no .shutdown of its own, so that generic path runs while the balloon's asynchronous work is still armed. Once the device has been broken, virtqueue_add_inbuf() in virtballoon_free_page_report() returns -EIO and trips its WARN_ON_ONCE(). On a kernel booted with panic_on_warn that turns an ordinary reboot, for example a kexec based upgrade, into a fatal panic in the middle of device_shutdown(), so the machine never reaches the new kernel. Relaxing that single WARN_ON_ONCE() would only hide the symptom: the inflate/deflate and OOM paths do not warn, they call wait_event(vb->acked, ...) and would instead block forever on a broken queue that can no longer complete. The device has to be quiesced, not just kept quiet. Add a .shutdown handler that quiesces the balloon via the shared virtballoon_quiesce() helper while the device is still alive, and only then breaks and resets it via virtio_device_shutdown(). Unlike virtballoon_remove() the balloon workqueue is not destroyed, as shutdown does not free the device and cancel_work_sync() together with stop_update already prevent any further work from being queued.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00206 10th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.2, 6.7, 6.13 +4Red Hat: 5 without a fix

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.1.191 to before 6.2; 6.6.160 to before 6.7; 6.12.114 to before 6.13; 6.14.9 to before 6.156.2, 6.7, 6.13, 6.15Patch availableCNA
LinuxLinux6.15 and later6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.1.191 to before 6.2; 6.6.160 to before 6.7; 6.12.114 to before 6.13; 6.14.9 to before 6.15 Fixed in 6.2, 6.7, 6.13, 6.15 Patch available CNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.15 and later Fixed in 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.2, 6.7, 6.13, 6.15
  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 4 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-90129
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-mrw4-8pgr-v6w5
  3. 2026-10-13 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  4. 2026-10-13 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  5. 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  6. 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  7. 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  8. 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  9. 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
See all 21741 →

Sources