CVE-2026-90186

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: null_blk: reject per-device queue resize for shared tag set When shared_tags is enabled, null_setup_tagset() makes the device use the global tag_set, whose driver_data stays NULL. null_map_queues() therefore falls back to the module-wide g_submit_queues/g_poll_queues instead of any per-device value. Resizing submit_queues or poll_queues via configfs on such a device calls blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues() on the shared set, shrinking set->nr_hw_queues. __blk_mq_realloc_hw_ctxs() only grows the q->queue_hw_ctx[] allocation, so on shrink it merely exits and NULLs the now-excess hctx slots. null_map_queues(), however, keeps mapping CPUs with the unchanged g_submit_queues/g_poll_queues, so mq_map[] ends up pointing at those NULLed hctx slots. blk_mq_map_swqueue() then dereferences the NULL hctx (hctx->cpumask), crashing the kernel: [ 460.218374] KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000098-0x000000000000009f] [ 460.219003] CPU: 24 UID: 0 PID: 1492 Comm: sh Not tainted 7.2.0-rc2+ #67 PREEMPT(full) [ 460.219792] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.17.0-4.fc41 04/01/2014 [ 460.220452] RIP: 0010:blk_mq_map_swqueue+0x4db/0x1430 ...... [ 460.228977] Call Trace: [ 460.229175] <TASK> [ 460.229354] blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues+0xd49/0x11c0 [ 460.229779] ? __pfx_blk_mq_update_nr_hw_queues+0x10/0x10 [ 460.230200] nullb_update_nr_hw_queues+0x1a9/0x370 [null_blk] [ 460.230694] nullb_device_submit_queues_store+0xd9/0x170 [null_blk] [ 460.231190] ? __pfx_nullb_device_submit_queues_store+0x10/0x10 [null_blk] [ 460.231776] ? configfs_write_iter+0x35c/0x4e0 [ 460.232122] configfs_write_iter+0x286/0x4e0 [ 460.232460] vfs_write+0x52d/0xd00 [ 460.232779] ? __x64_sys_openat+0x108/0x1d0 [ 460.233106] ? __pfx_vfs_write+0x10/0x10 [ 460.233413] ? fdget_pos+0x1cf/0x4c0 [ 460.233745] ? fput_close+0x133/0x190 [ 460.234038] ? __pfx_expand_files+0x10/0x10 [ 460.234368] ksys_write+0xfc/0x1d0 Reproducer: modprobe null_blk shared_tags=1 submit_queues=64 poll_queues=1 mkdir /sys/kernel/config/nullb/dev echo 1 > /sys/kernel/config/nullb/dev/power echo 1 > /sys/kernel/config/nullb/dev/submit_queues A per-device resize of a shared tag set is meaningless anyway, so reject it with -EINVAL in nullb_update_nr_hw_queues() when the device is bound to the global tag_set.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2026-09-17
Last modified 2026-09-17
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.5 and later are affected. Fixed in 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.52, 7.2.6, 7.3-rc1 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.5
Fixed in
✓ 6.1.188 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.157 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.110 6.12.x ✓ 6.18.52 6.18.x ✓ 7.2.6 7.2.x ✓ 7.3-rc1

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2026-90186?

    CVE-2026-90186 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.5 onward and has been patched in 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110 and others. CVE-2026-90186 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-90186?

    Yes. CVE-2026-90186 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.5 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2026-90186 actively exploited?

    No. CVE-2026-90186 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.