Read the docs
TI-2026-64396 Aliases CVE-2026-97997GHSA-88cm-3h7q-4v2q

virtio_ring: fix stale descriptor flags after a failed packed add

Priority LOW 22Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
—
Privileges required
—
User interaction
—
Attack complexity
—
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
—
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 6 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_ring: fix stale descriptor flags after a failed packed add In a packed ring the AVAIL and USED bits sit in the descriptor itself, so writing them makes that descriptor available. Those bit combinations flip meaning on every round of the ring, tracked by a wrap counter, so invalidating or validating a descriptor means inverting both bits. Commit 1ce9e6055fa0 ("virtio_ring: introduce packed ring support") has virtqueue_add_packed() make every descriptor of a chain available as it maps the chain, and write the head last. The device consumes the ring in order and stops at a head that is not available yet, so it never reaches the rest. When vring_map_one_sg() fails partway, unmap_release unmaps the segments and restores avail_used_flags, but the descriptors it wrote to in the ring stay marked with AVAIL and USED bits. The head is now the only entry that keeps the device from consuming these stale entries. For example, the ring would look like this now. Z - pre-previous command A - previous command B - aborted command C - current command [A1 DONE] [A2 DONE] <C1 EMPTY> [B2] [B3] [Z1 DONE] When the driver now attempts to issue the C command, the next add starts at the same head as B. If C spans less descriptors than B, there is no end marker because AVAIL and USED bits were still in place. And that means the device will start interpreting these stale entries (B2/B3) as another command entry, which then blocks the queue. This effect typically happens in swiotlb configurations under memory pressure, because vring_map_one_sg() can then fail with larger I/O requests which then leads to command abortions. There are broadly 2 ways to avoid leaving those flags behind: 1) Defer those flags too until the chain is complete. 2) Rewrite those flags for the previous wrap counter. Implement the second option in both packed add paths. The first option traverses the chain a second time on every successful add. The second option invalidates all added descriptors when any add fails. With this patch applied, a packed virtqueue keeps completing requests after a failed add.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00168 6th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57 +2Red Hat: 6 without a fix

SSVC decision points

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

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux5.0 and later6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.2.7, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.0 and later Fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.2.7, 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 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.57, 7.2.7, 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 8AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
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: 1 product
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-97997
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-88cm-3h7q-4v2q
  3. 2026-10-16 Fix available: Linux/Linux@3e6400e3b8b858cdf0f8d70b20d8b55d703af368, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  4. 2026-10-16 1 new reference · CNA
  5. 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  6. 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@5ad081761a1f0b0d95ab08b61a6008309fba95f9, Linux/[email protected], Linux/[email protected] +1 · CNA
  7. 2026-10-21 2 new references · CNA
  8. 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 21727 →

Sources