Linux kernel BPF trampolines can call freed detached programs
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
The Linux kernel from 5.10.28 before 5.11, from 5.11.11 before 5.12, and from 5.12 until the fixed versions 7.2.10 and 7.3 is affected. When a BPF program is detached, the kernel can free it while a task still running a trampoline image calls it. A task sleeping in a sleepable program can then execute the freed memory, which causes a kernel oops.
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: bpf: Skip detached progs in trampoline images that are still in use bpf_tramp_image_put() makes sure a trampoline image is not freed while a task may still be running in it, but nothing similar is done for the progs called by that image. Detach drops the last prog reference right away and the prog is freed after grace periods, on the basis that a task still in the traced function skips the fexit progs once the nop at ip_after_call is patched to a jump. That leaves out a task sleeping in a sleepable prog that runs before the detached one, which no grace period waits for: CPU 0 CPU 1 in image I, sleeping in prog S detach P from I's trampoline -> new image, bpf_tramp_image_put(I) bpf_prog_put(P), last ref grace periods, P freed back from S __bpf_prog_enter(P) call P->bpf_func If S and P are fexit progs the task is already past the patched jump, and fentry only images don't have one. On x86 this is an int3 in poisoned bpf_prog_pack memory: Oops: int3: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 18 UID: 0 PID: 94573 Comm: x169 Not tainted 6.18.44 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) RIP: 0010:0xffffffffc0601d8d Call Trace: <TASK> ? bpf_trampoline_6442515411+0x1a4/0x21b bpf_lsm_bprm_committed_creds+0x5/0x10 security_bprm_committed_creds+0x5f/0x70 begin_new_exec+0x2d6/0x410 ... We hit this in production when progs attached through trampolines got detached while their hooks were busy, and it was independently found with a fuzzer and KASAN. Have the JITs emit a patchable nop in front of each prog call sequence and record it in the image. When a prog is detached, patch its nop to a jump over the call sequence. Progs that stay attached keep running for the tasks that are in the image, and ip_after_call isn't needed anymore. The task can be in any image that isn't freed yet, not only in the current one. It sleeps in image I1 that calls S, P and Q, then P is detached and the trampoline moves to image I2, then Q is detached and its call is still in I1. So the trampoline keeps a list of its images until they are freed, and detaching a prog patches its nop in all of them. Images hold a reference on the trampoline for that long. On riscv and loongarch a jump of any range takes several instructions, and a task preempted in the middle of them could resume into half of the new sequence. The nop is a single instruction there, patched to a near branch through arch_bpf_trampoline_skip(). With the extra nops, BPF_MAX_TRAMP_LINKS progs no longer fit in a page on x86 and arm64 (and already didn't on powerpc), so lower the limit there like s390 does.
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 5.11, 5.12, 7.2.10 and 7.3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 are affected without a fix, with Red Hat's plan listed as none available.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.11, 5.12
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 7.2.10, 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: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98799
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-h23c-62pq-37fc
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98799 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98799 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-h23c-62pq-37fc · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98799 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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