perf/x86/intel: Prevent drain_pebs() reentry
Key facts
- Attack vector
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- —
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 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: perf/x86/intel: Prevent drain_pebs() reentry The PEBS buffer is shared by all events on a CPU, so drain_pebs() must not be reentered. If so, one instance may observe stale buffer state and potentially access out-of-bound memory. Most invocations happen in NMI context, which naturally prevents reentry. However, drain_pebs() is also reachable from process context via intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer(). In those paths, the PMU is often already disabled, but not guaranteed. For example, __intel_pmu_pebs_disable() only disables the target counter, so other active counters can still raise a PMI and interrupt an in-flight drain_pebs(). Here is an example, __perf_addr_filters_adjust() perf_event_stop() __perf_event_stop() x86_pmu_stop() (event->pmu->stop) intel_pmu_disable_event() intel_pmu_pebs_disable() __intel_pmu_pebs_disable() intel_pmu_drain_large_pebs() intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() Introduce __intel_pmu_quiesce() and __intel_pmu_resume() helpers and use them in intel_pmu_drain_large_pebs() to disable the full PMU around the intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() call, preventing reentry. Also add a warning in intel_pmu_drain_pebs_buffer() when the full PMU is not disabled.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.4
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.53, 7.2.7, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-97960
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5xpp-w3qp-6w34
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@9882068ed242fcd4743f53027e8c790e88dcafff +1 · CNA
- 2026-10-21 2 new references · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9882068ed242fcd4743f53027e8c790e88dcafff
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/999e482fdf89400cc1ae937680fc05096b4c915b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5fe19dd8b3ed5fad6e5e0f0c58c7245043ee4af
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c55599c0ec2aa020e41a0599c3044c56d8a2e7d9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a56c03a397e2cd0c4cf8da96dcd6214f7d0e7d8c
More Linux vulnerabilities
- 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-97960 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-97960 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5xpp-w3qp-6w34 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-97960 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences