CVE-2026-98888
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: arm64: kprobes: Allow reentering kprobes while single-stepping A kprobe can be hit while another kprobe is in KPROBE_HIT_SS state. This can happen when tracing or perf code runs from the debug exception path while the first kprobe is preparing or executing its out-of-line single-step instruction. Currently arm64 treats a kprobe hit in KPROBE_HIT_SS as unrecoverable, the same as a hit in KPROBE_REENTER. This is too strict. A hit in KPROBE_HIT_SS is still a one-level reentry and can be handled by saving the current kprobe state and setting up single-step for the new probe, just like reentry from KPROBE_HIT_ACTIVE or KPROBE_HIT_SSDONE. The truly unrecoverable case is hitting another kprobe while already in KPROBE_REENTER, because the reentry save area has already been consumed. Move KPROBE_HIT_SS to the recoverable reentry cases and leave KPROBE_REENTER as the unrecoverable nested reentry case. This change also requires saving saved_irqflag in struct prev_kprobe. When a nested kprobe calls kprobes_save_local_irqflag(), it overwrites kcb->saved_irqflag with the currently masked DAIF value, losing the outer kprobe's original DAIF state. Without this fix, when the outer kprobe's single-step finishes, kprobes_restore_local_irqflag() applies the wrong DAIF mask and leaves interrupts permanently disabled. Extend struct prev_kprobe with a saved_irqflag field and save/restore it alongside kp and status. This ensures the outer kprobe's original interrupt state is preserved across reentry. This mirrors the x86 fix in commit 6a5022a56ac3 ("kprobes/x86: Allow to handle reentered kprobe on single-stepping").
Affected versions
Fixed in
5.10.271,
5.15.222,
6.1.189,
6.6.158,
6.12.111,
6.18.53,
7.2
and their respective stable series.
References
7 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-98888?
CVE-2026-98888 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . CVE-2026-98888 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-2026-98888?
Yes. CVE-2026-98888 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.10.271, 5.15.222, 6.1.189 and others.
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Is CVE-2026-98888 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-98888 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.