---
id: "CVE-2026-98804"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98804"]
title: "Linux kernel: page pool use-after-free when recycling network buffers"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "runtime"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["kernel", "linux", "network-drivers", "runtime", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["default-config"]
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:34+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:15:02+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98804", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: page pool use-after-free when recycling network buffers

A race in the Linux kernel's page pool recycling code can touch a pool's statistics after the pool has already been freed when it is being destroyed. The sources do not describe a demonstrated attacker outcome beyond memory corruption.

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

## How to check

- Run `uname -r` and compare against the kernel build that carries the upstream fix from the NVD entry
- Check whether `CONFIG_PAGE_POOL_STATS` is set in the kernel config, for example `grep PAGE_POOL_STATS /boot/config-$(uname -r)`

## Fix

- Update the Linux kernel to a release that includes the upstream commit fixing page_pool_recycle_ring_bulk() (version unknown from the sources)
- Reboot into the patched kernel after the package update

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:16+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98804

## From the sources

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

net: page_pool: fix use-after-free in page_pool_recycle_ring_bulk()

With CONFIG_PAGE_POOL_STATS=y, page_pool_recycle_ring_bulk() updates
the recycle stats after dropping the producer lock. If it just recycled
the last inflight netmems of a pool being destroyed, page_pool_release()
can pass its producer-lock barrier and free the pool before
recycle_stat_add() runs.

Commit fcc680a647ba7 ("page_pool: allow mixing PPs within one bulk")
moved this stat update after the unlock. Commit 271683bb2cf32
("page_pool: Fix use-after-free in page_pool_recycle_in_ring") later
added the barrier, but only fixed page_pool_recycle_in_ring(). Move
the update back under the lock.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_