CVE-2026-98537
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's workqueue subsystem. A local attacker can cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by inducing memory pressure that triggers an out-of-memory notification. During subsequent dependency checks, a worker thread not actively running a task dereferences a null pointer, leading to a kernel crash.
Statement
This vulnerability is evaluated as a Moderate severity impact because triggering the condition requires local authenticated access, complex timing, and extreme system memory pressure, limiting the blast radius strictly to a denial of service. The underlying flaw affects core kernel workqueue processing when an out-of-memory event interrupts worker pool thread creation. Because unprivileged users cannot easily orchestrate this specific sequence of memory exhaustion and thread management events, the risk of an unexpected crash in enterprise environments remains low to moderate.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.7 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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