CVE-2026-23159

Published Feb 14, 2026

Last updated 7 months ago

CVSS medium 5.5

Overview

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf: sched: Fix perf crash with new is_user_task() helper In order to do a user space stacktrace the current task needs to be a user task that has executed in user space. It use to be possible to test if a task is a user task or not by simply checking the task_struct mm field. If it was non NULL, it was a user task and if not it was a kernel task. But things have changed over time, and some kernel tasks now have their own mm field. An idea was made to instead test PF_KTHREAD and two functions were used to wrap this check in case it became more complex to test if a task was a user task or not[1]. But this was rejected and the C code simply checked the PF_KTHREAD directly. It was later found that not all kernel threads set PF_KTHREAD. The io-uring helpers instead set PF_USER_WORKER and this needed to be added as well. But checking the flags is still not enough. There's a very small window when a task exits that it frees its mm field and it is set back to NULL. If perf were to trigger at this moment, the flags test would say its a user space task but when perf would read the mm field it would crash with at NULL pointer dereference. Now there are flags that can be used to test if a task is exiting, but they are set in areas that perf may still want to profile the user space task (to see where it exited). The only real test is to check both the flags and the mm field. Instead of making this modification in every location, create a new is_user_task() helper function that does all the tests needed to know if it is safe to read the user space memory or not. [1] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250425204120.639530125@goodmis.org/
Source
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD status
Analyzed
Products
linux_kernel

Risk scores

CVSS 3.1

Type
Primary
Base score
5.5
Impact score
3.6
Exploitability score
1.8
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Severity
MEDIUM

Weaknesses

nvd@nist.gov
CWE-476

Social media

Hype score
Not currently trending

Configurations

Related CVEs

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  2. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cgroup: Avoid iteration of dying tasks with zero refcount The commit 260fbcb92bbea ("cgroup: Move dying_tasks cleanup from cgroup_task_release() to cgroup_task_free()") extended the lifetime of tasks on the dying_tasks list. The iterators have provision to go through dying_tasks because of dying threadgroup leaders or explicit CSS_TASK_ITER_WITH_DEAD, however, it was expected that such tasks can obtain a new reference (that is possible before cgroup_task_release()/put_task_struct_rcu_user()). The tasks after cgroup_task_release() and before cgroup_task_free() are subject to race when they may or may not have ->usage count > 0. The race window is between css_task_iter_next() invocations when css_set_lock is released and we may arrive at a new ->task_pos. The iterator should not attempt to resurrect tasks whose ->usage count dropped to zero. (When that happens, __put_task_struct_rcu_cb() is already imminent and the returned task_struct would could be used after free.) As for the fix, we cannot simply check the signal->live count of a task on the dying list because that won't distinguish regular zombies waiting to be reaped from RCU remnant tasks that are going to be free'd. Therefore add an extra check to rule out ->usage==0 tasks from any iteration. The repeat: loop in css_task_iter_advance() doesn't consider ->usage count, so add a new loop to css_task_iter_next() to skip de-used tasks on the dying_list. Rough illustration of the possible race R (reader of cgroup.procs) T (thread) L (group leader) --------------------------------- -------------------------------- -------------------------------- L exits, signal->live > 0 cgroup_task_dead(L) css_set_skip_task_iters() // skips only cset->tasks list_add_tail(&L->cg_list, &cset->dying_tasks) css_task_iter_next() take css_set_lock css_task_iter_advance() leader && signal->live != 0 => it->task_pos = &L->cg_list release css_set_lock T exits --signal->live == 0 cgroup_task_dead(T) // css_set_lock release_task(T) cgroup_task_release(T) release_task(L) // zap_leader cgroup_task_release(L) put_task_struct_rcu_user(L) ...RCU... put_task_struct(L) L->usage = 0 /* L still on dying_tasks */ ...RCU... __put_task_struct(L) css_task_iter_next() // another iteration take css_set_lock it->task_pos = &L->cg_list get_task_struct(L) => addition on 0 drop css_set_lock cgroup_task_free(L) css_set_skip_task_iters() // dying skip comes too late free_task(L) cgroup_procs_show() task_pid_vnr(L)•CVE-2026-98163
  3. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb/server: fix tree connection leak in smb2_tree_connect() See the procedure below: smb2_tree_connect ksmbd_tree_conn_connect xa_store(&sess->tree_conns, tree_conn->id, tree_conn) ksmbd_counter_inc(KSMBD_COUNTER_TREE_CONNS) ksmbd_share_tree_conn_inc(sc) ksmbd_iov_pin_rsp // fail status.ret = KSMBD_TREE_CONN_STATUS_NOMEM // do not disconnect tree_conn Disconnect the new tree connection if ksmbd_iov_pin_rsp() fails.•CVE-2026-98162
  4. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvdimm: pmem: keep PREFLUSH before data writes pmem_submit_bio() records a REQ_PREFLUSH error, but continues to copy the bio data and can later overwrite the error with a successful REQ_FUA flush. That lets data writes run after a failed preflush and can complete the bio successfully despite the failed ordering barrier. Run the REQ_PREFLUSH flush synchronously before touching the bio data and complete the bio with the flush error if it fails. Keep asynchronous flush chaining for REQ_FUA. At that point, data copy has completed and the parent bio can wait for the chained flush bio.•CVE-2026-98161
  5. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: staging: rtl8723bs: fix mismatched free of HalData in rtw_sdio_if1_init() padapter->HalData is allocated via vzalloc(), but incorrectly freed using kfree() in the rtw_sdio_if1_init() error path. Using kfree() to release this vmalloc-backed buffer can lead to memory corruption. Use rtw_hal_data_deinit() to pair the free correctly and free HalData with vfree(). The bug was first flagged by an experimental static analysis tool we are developing for kernel memory-management bugs. Manual inspection confirms that the issue is still present in current mainline. An x86_64 allyesconfig build showed no new warnings. As we do not have suitable RTL8723BS SDIO hardware to test with, no runtime testing was able to be performed.•CVE-2026-98160

References

Sources include official advisories and independent security research.