--- id: "CVE-2026-98815" kind: "vulnerability" aliases: ["CVE-2026-98815"] title: "Linux kernel NVMe: use-after-free in char device after namespace teardown" severity: "unknown" cvss: null epss: null exploited: false status: "open" category: "infrastructure" products: [] ecosystems: [] tags: ["infrastructure", "linux-kernel", "multipath", "nvme", "self-hosted"] not_affected_if: ["no-ng-char-devices", "no-nvme-multipath"] published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:35+00:00" first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00" updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:14:55+00:00" sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98815", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00"}] --- # Linux kernel NVMe: use-after-free in char device after namespace teardown In NVMe multipath mode, the kernel can tear down a namespace head while a character device opened on it stays usable, so later calls on that device touch freed memory. A local user who holds the device open across the teardown can trigger a KASAN-reported use-after-free read in the kernel. _Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._ ## How to check - Check for NVMe namespace character devices with `ls /dev/ng*`. - Check whether the kernel is built with NVMe multipath, for example `grep CONFIG_NVME_MULTIPATH /boot/config-$(uname -r)`. - Check the running kernel version with `uname -r` against the fixed release, which the sources do not name. ## Fix - Apply the upstream kernel fix titled "nvme: fix cdev lifetime", version unknown. - Move to a distribution kernel that includes that fix, version unknown. ## Timeline - 2026-10-23T21:57:17+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98815 ## From the sources In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvme: fix cdev lifetime Sashiko bot reported a potential problem for the cdev lifetime in [0] - the code there is heavily based on the NVMe code. Currently the NS head .open and .release file_operations methods take and put a reference to the nvme_ns_head to ensure that this structure does not disappear while we open fds for that cdev. In multipath mode, when we teardown the NS head, we call nvme_cdev_del() -> cdev_device_del() -> cdev_del(). However after cdev_del() returns, cdevs already open will remain and their fops will still be callable. As such, we can still reference the cdev after the nvme_ns_head reference count drops to 0 (and is freed). This can be shown with an application which delays between opening the cdev and issuing the ioctl while the NS head is being torn down: # ./ioctl_file /dev/ng1n1 & # waiting 10 seconds .... # ./ini_nvme_teardown.sh [ 21.221718] nvme nvme1: Removing ctrl: NQN "nvme-test-target" [ 21.274609] nvme nvme2: Removing ctrl: NQN "nvme-test-target" # now going to issue ioctl .... [ 26.549285] ================================================================== [ 26.550841] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.552352] Read of size 8 at addr ffff88811e7fa170 by task ioctl_file/237 [ 26.553805] [ 26.554227] CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 237 Comm: ioctl_file Not tainted 7.2.0-rc1-00004-g6852a10e32d4 #921 PREEMPT(lazy) [ 26.554236] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 [ 26.554241] Call Trace: [ 26.554245] [ 26.554248] dump_stack_lvl+0x68/0xa0 [ 26.554266] print_report+0x10d/0x5d0 [ 26.554276] ? __virt_addr_valid+0x21d/0x3f0 [ 26.554287] ? cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.554292] kasan_report+0x96/0xd0 [ 26.554300] ? cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.554307] cdev_put.part.0+0x3d/0x40 [ 26.554313] __fput+0x7bc/0xa70 [ 26.554322] fput_close_sync+0xd8/0x190 [ 26.554328] ? __pfx_fput_close_sync+0x10/0x10 [ 26.554337] __x64_sys_close+0x79/0xd0 [ 26.554344] do_syscall_64+0x117/0x6b0 [ 26.554351] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f [ 26.554358] RIP: 0033:0x7f938c067727 [ 26.554364] Code: 48 89 fa 4c 89 df e8 28 ad 00 00 8b 93 08 03 00 00 59 5e 48 83 f8 fc 74 1a 5b c3 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 48 8b 44 24 10 0f 05 <5bf [ 26.554369] RSP: 002b:00007fff49f05980 EFLAGS: 00000202 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000003 [ 26.554376] RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007f938bfd7780 RCX: 00007f938c067727 [ 26.554380] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000003 [ 26.554383] RBP: 00007fff49f05a10 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 [ 26.554386] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000202 R12: 0000000000000000 [ 26.554389] R13: 00007fff49f05b40 R14: 00007f938c207000 R15: 000055c148471d78 [ 26.554397] [ 26.554399] [ 26.575612] Allocated by task 100: [ 26.575871] kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 [ 26.576157] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 26.576418] __kasan_kmalloc+0x7f/0x90 [ 26.576668] __kmalloc_noprof+0x281/0x6c0 [ 26.576938] nvme_alloc_ns+0x7f7/0x3170 [ 26.577206] nvme_scan_ns+0x508/0x880 [ 26.577449] async_run_entry_fn+0x8c/0x350 [ 26.577723] process_scheduled_works+0xb6f/0x1a00 [ 26.578034] worker_thread+0x4ad/0xb40 [ 26.578283] kthread+0x34f/0x450 [ 26.578501] ret_from_fork+0x563/0x800 [ 26.578752] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 26.579012] [ 26.579124] Freed by task 237: [ 26.579335] kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 [ 26.579596] kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30 [ 26.579855] kasan_save_free_info+0x3a/0x60 [ 26.580131] __kasan_slab_free+0x43/0x70 [ 26.580388] kfree+0x321/0x500 [ 26.580591] nvme_ns_head_chr_release+0x39/0x50 [ 26.580883] __fput+0x352/0xa70 [ 26.581095] fput_close_sync+0xd8/0x190 [ 26.581350] __x64_sys_close+0x79/0xd0 [ 26.581595] do_syscall_64+0x117/0x6b0 [ 26.581842] entry_SYSCAL ---truncated--- --- _Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_