CVE-2026-98521
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/i915: fix incorrect RCU teardown order i915_gem_busy_ioctl uses dma_resv_for_each_fence_unlocked() to iterate over the fences in an GEM object without holding a reference but only the RCU read side lock. What can happen here is that the GEM object is destroyed concurrently while i915_gem_busy_ioctl is still running. This won't free the GEM objects memory, but still drops all the dma_fence references. Now when dma_resv_for_each_fence_unlocked() sees a destroyed dma_fence it assumes that a new fence list was installed and re-starts the loop. But in the case of a destroyed GEM object a new fence list is never installed, only the old one freed and therefore the iteration never finishes resulting in an endless loop. The solution is to drop the fence references only after the RCU grace period. The fixes tag is not necessary the patch introducing the problem, but the one making it so worse that we need to address it. This problem was pointed out by Sashiko-bot. (cherry picked from commit 5113479556025093bf8133bb2dcaa33be2d50921)
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
5.17
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.1.189,
6.6.158,
6.12.112,
6.18.55,
7.2.9,
7.3
and their respective stable series.
References
6 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-98521?
CVE-2026-98521 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.17 onward and has been patched in 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112 and others. CVE-2026-98521 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-98521?
Yes. CVE-2026-98521 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.17 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-98521 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-98521 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.