Incorrect credit-return mmap in Linux hfi1 driver can crash kernel
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel hfi1 InfiniBand driver computes the wrong address for the PIO credit-return page in its mmap handler, so user space can be mapped to memory outside the allocation or to the wrong page. A local user with low privileges can trigger a kernel crash, with high confidentiality and availability impact. Linux kernel versions from 6.3 are affected until they receive the fixes listed below.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: IB/hfi1: Fix the PIO_CRED credit-return mmap hfi1_file_mmap()'s PIO_CRED case must hand user space the single credit-return page that holds this context's entry. That page is the second or third page of the per-node credit-return allocation once the hardware send context index reaches 64 or 128, so the failure below is intermittent: when the entry lands on the first page the offset is zero and everything works. Two things are wrong. First, cr_page_offset is a byte offset but .va is a struct credit_return *, so adding it is pointer arithmetic and scales the offset by sizeof(struct credit_return) == 64. memvirt then lands 256 KiB or 512 KiB past a 10240-byte allocation. With an IOMMU translating, that address is inside the vmalloc range but in no vm_area, so dma_mmap_coherent() -> iommu_dma_mmap() finds no pages, vmalloc_to_pfn() returns page_to_pfn(NULL), and remap_pfn_range() installs a frame above MAXPHYADDR. The first user read then takes: psm2_ep_open_pr: Corrupted page table at address 7a14d007e000 PGD 800000013886a067 P4D 800000013886a067 PUD 13886b067 PMD 13886c067 PTE 800049168e911235 Oops: Bad pagetable: 000d [#1] SMP PTI Second, and still wrong once the arithmetic is corrected, dma_mmap_coherent() describes a whole coherent buffer and selects the page within it with vma->vm_pgoff. Offsetting cpu_addr has no effect: for a vmap'd allocation iommu_dma_mmap() uses cpu_addr only to locate the vm_area and then maps pages[vm_pgoff], which hfi1_file_mmap() has just set to 0. User space therefore always receives the first credit-return page, every credit read is for the wrong context, and send PIO stalls forever. Use the DMA API as intended: pass the base of the allocation with its full length and select the page with vm_pgoff. A separate length is needed because memlen must keep describing the VMA for the existing size check. The dma-direct path stays correct as well, since dma_direct_mmap() adds the same vm_pgoff to the base pfn. Tested on a Dell T7610 (Xeon E5-2650 v2, Intel IOMMU in DMA-FQ mode) against a Threadripper PRO 3995WX peer, both Omni-Path 100. Before this change psm2_ep_open() Oopses the kernel; with only the arithmetic corrected psm2_ep_open() succeeds but any transfer that uses send PIO hangs, PSM2_SDMA=2 (send PIO disabled) completing normally while PSM2_SDMA=0 (send PIO only) hangs every time. With this change send PIO, send DMA and the default mixed mode all work.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Fixed Linux kernel versions are 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 and 7.3. Red Hat rates this Moderate and lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 as affected, with no fix available.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8, 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 8 | 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: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98216
- 2026-10-06 Alias added: GHSA-2p8w-fgw9-p46c
- 2026-10-07 CVSS score added · CNA
- 2026-10-10 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-10 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-01 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/535530bb2ea5254e1e9f55280143d262dd065204
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dcebe0b0bb080a25fe08011fd6b6e741f7912f01
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/180752deb7270ad37394ab6ef7cf4978fad040b3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bafeac9ce5d1ce5256bcf7e5702e831e9aaf419b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62f0f34fbd2b2d5653d33d3b9d42fdcabb1c0101
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98216 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98216 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-2p8w-fgw9-p46c · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98216 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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