---
id: "CVE-2026-98964"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98964"]
title: "Linux kernel: NVMe target P2P metadata allocation failure frees wrong device"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: 0.00209
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["infrastructure", "linux-kernel", "nvme-target", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["no-nvmet-target", "no-p2pdma"]
published_at: "2026-10-23T13:17:17+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98964", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-98964", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: NVMe target P2P metadata allocation failure frees wrong device

In the Linux NVMe target driver (nvmet), a failed metadata allocation after a successful data allocation frees peer-to-peer memory using a device pointer that has not yet been set. The sources describe a cleanup-path bug and do not state an attacker-controlled impact.

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

## How to check

- unknown

## Fix

- Update the Linux kernel to a release that includes the upstream commit fixing nvmet_req_alloc_p2pmem_sgls cleanup (the sources do not name a version)

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98964
- 2026-10-25T12:38:50+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-98964

## From the sources

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

nvmet: use the local P2P device on metadata allocation failure

nvmet_req_alloc_p2pmem_sgls() assigns req->p2p_dev only after the data
and metadata SGL allocations succeed. If the data allocation succeeds
but the metadata allocation fails, out_free_sg passes req->p2p_dev to
pci_p2pmem_free_sgl() before that assignment has taken place.

Pass the local p2p_dev argument instead, so cleanup uses the same PCI
device as the successful data allocation.

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