What is CVE-2026-72098?

CVE-2026-72098 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, affecting Linux kernel versions from 4.5 onward and patched in 6.18.42, 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72098 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72098?

CVE-2026-72098 has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, rated Critical severity. The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72098?

Yes, CVE-2026-72098 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.42, 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 4.5 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

Is CVE-2026-72098 actively exploited?

CVE-2026-72098 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

CVE-2026-72098

Critical

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm-verity: fix buffer overflow in FEC calculation There's a buffer overflow in dm-verity-fec: if (neras && *neras <= v->fec->roots) fio->erasures[(*neras)++] = i; This allows *neras to reach roots + 1 (the post-increment pushes it past roots). This value is then passed as no_eras to decode_rs8(). Inside the RS decoder (lib/reed_solomon/decode_rs.c:113-121), the erasure locator polynomial loop writes lambda[j] where j can reach nroots + 1 — one element past the end of lambda[] (which is sized nroots + 1, valid indices 0..nroots). The out-of-bounds write lands on syn[0], corrupting the syndrome buffer.

Package Linux Kernel

Published 2026-08-15

Last modified 2026-08-17

CVSS version 3.1

Patch available

Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

9.8

out of 10

Critical

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Vector string

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 4.5 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.18.42, 7.1.5, 7.2 and their respective stable series.

Affected from

≥ 4.5

Fixed in

✓ 6.18.42 6.18.x ✓ 7.1.5 7.1.x ✓ 7.2

References

3 total

Details

CVE ID CVE-2026-72098

Severity Critical

CVSS score 9.8 / 10

CVSS version 3.1

Published 2026-08-15

Modified 2026-08-17

KEV No

Patch

Yes

Package linux

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-72098?

CVE-2026-72098 is a Critical severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 4.5 onward and has been patched in 6.18.42, 7.1.5 and 7.2. CVE-2026-72098 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-72098?

CVE-2026-72098 has a CVSS score of 9.8 out of 10, rated Critical severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-72098?

Yes. CVE-2026-72098 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.42, 7.1.5 and 7.2. If you are running Linux kernel 4.5 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
Is CVE-2026-72098 actively exploited?

No. CVE-2026-72098 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.