Use-after-free in Linux kernel IB/mlx4 pkey sysfs registration
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
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel IB/mlx4 driver keeps stale pkey parent kobject pointers after a failed per-slave sysfs registration. A later device cleanup then passes these freed pointers to kobject_put, causing a use-after-free. Linux kernel code from 3.7 is affected until the fixed releases listed in the solution.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: IB/mlx4: Fix use-after-free on pkey sysfs registration failure register_pkey_tree() ignores errors from register_one_pkey_tree() and continues registering the remaining slaves. The per-slave error path has already released the pkey parent kobjects, but their pointers remain stored in the device. A later device cleanup therefore passes the stale pointers to kobject_put(), causing a use-after-free. Clear the parent pointers after releasing a failed slave tree and skip unregistered trees during device cleanup. This preserves the existing best-effort registration behavior while preventing a second cleanup of the failed tree.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Update the Linux kernel to 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.54, 7.2.8 or 7.3, or to a commit that includes the fix. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 has no fix planned, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, 8 and 9 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 have no fix available.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 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 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | 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: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Timeline
- 2026-10-06 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98217
- 2026-10-06 Alias added: GHSA-pc9g-8wgv-jv4j
- 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
- 2026-10-23 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/791471421d848ce13e84f4b21c9e19973d471c4e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/734f066933484f6c7cedea0312763249beed5845
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a07bee32127d7c4cd3b1bb9a088e21d0c93634c9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf20d7476754c00eec04ae23d3e929de33ce0345
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0c3482e965b18bc242e54e899d1c4d391ca8e5e3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ffb80872617b5f9b3dd1536ec2909029fa66f228
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ced1186fea7c77e16681c7ef4802897885989c3b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1af874e9f4ce22ccf8b10ab5462f32c70d3be21a
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98217 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98217 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-pc9g-8wgv-jv4j · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98217 · 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