CVE-2026-98543
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel. A local privileged user could cause a Denial of Service (DoS) or file system corruption due to improper locking in the BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) subsystem. When attaching sleepable BPF programs to certain file removal hooks, the kernel verifier incorrectly assumes an inode lock is held, permitting extended attributes to be modified concurrently without synchronization.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as having a Moderate impact for Red Hat Enterprise Linux because exploitation requires elevated administrative privileges to load custom BPF programs and attach them to kernel security hooks. An attacker must already possess administrative capabilities, such as CAP_BPF or CAP_SYS_ADMIN, to deploy sleepable security probes that manipulate extended attributes during file or directory removal operations. Because unprivileged users cannot trigger this race condition or load the requisite programs by default, the flaw primarily poses a local denial of service or potential filesystem integrity risk in environments where untrusted administrators manage kernel tracing programs.
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 | 4.1 | N/A | 7.3 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | High | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Changed |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | Low |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Availability
Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; DoS: Instability; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
When a resource is not properly locked, an attacker could modify the resource while it is being operated on by the product. This might violate the product's assumption that the resource will not change, potentially leading to unexpected behaviors.
Frequently Asked Questions
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