Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-89961)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-89961). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
powerpc/mm: fix wrong addr_pfn tracking in compound vmemmap population
vmemmap_populate_compound_pages() uses addr_pfn to determine the PFN
offset within a compound page and to decide whether the current vmemmap
slot should be populated as a head page mapping or should reuse a tail
page mapping.
However, addr_pfn is advanced manually in parallel with addr. The loop
itself progresses in vmemmap address space, so each PAGE_SIZE step in addr
covers PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct page) struct page slots. Since addr_pfn
is compared against nr_pages in data-PFN units, it should advance by the
same number of PFNs. The existing manual increments do not match that and
therefore do not reliably track the PFN corresponding to the current addr.
As a result, pfn_offset can be computed from the wrong PFN and the code
can make the head/tail decision for the wrong compound-page position.
Fix this by deriving addr_pfn directly from the current vmemmap address
instead of carrying it as loop state.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-89961 has been found in Linux kernel.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.8/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2026-89961" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-89961 (Linux kernel) — CVSS v3 7.8
Attack vector: local / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (unclassified) exists in Linux kernel.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Linux kernel.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Linux kernel を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
-
2Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89961 linux-hwe-edge
References
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web nvd.nist.gov
- web github.com