---
id: "CVE-2026-98778"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98778"]
title: "Linux kernel binder: superseded transaction cleanup closes unrelated file descriptors"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "other"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["android", "kernel", "linux", "other"]
not_affected_if: []
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:31+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:15:23+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98778", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel binder: superseded transaction cleanup closes unrelated file descriptors

In the Linux kernel's binder IPC driver, cleaning up a superseded asynchronous transaction treats stale buffer contents as installed file descriptors. This causes unrelated file descriptors in the target process to be closed.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98778

## From the sources

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

binder: fix is_failure flag for superseded transaction cleanup

When a TF_UPDATE_TXN transaction supersedes a pending async transaction,
binder_release_entire_buffer() is called with is_failure=false. Since the
superseded transaction was never delivered, binder_apply_fd_fixups() was
never called and no fds were installed in the target process.

With is_failure=false, the BINDER_TYPE_FDA cleanup handler interprets
stale buffer contents as installed fd numbers and passes them to
binder_deferred_fd_close(), closing unrelated file descriptors.

Pass is_failure=true since the transaction was never delivered to the
target, matching the semantics of all other undelivered-transaction
cleanup paths.

---

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