Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-97943)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-97943). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
x86/mm/pat: Acquire init_mm write lock on collapse to avoid UAF
x86 implements page attribute modification using its Change Page
Attributes (CPA) mechanism.
This tracks properties of ranges such as cache mode through x86 page
attributes, and as part of that logic manipulates kernel page tables.
Since commit:
41d88484c71c ("x86/mm/pat: restore large ROX pages after fragmentation")
ranges of kernel page table entries can be collapsed into
huge page table entries as part of this logic.
As part of this collapse, it frees the page tables which the collapsed
entries previously pointed to, and it does so without any relevant locks
being held to preclude concurrent kernel page table walkers.
The only way this code can be reached is if CPA_COLLAPSE is specified, and
this is only set in set_memory_rox() via:
set_memory_rox()
-> change_page_attr_set_clr()
-> cpa_flush()
-> cpa_collapse_large_pages()
Notable users of this are execmem and BPF when manipulating executable
mappings.
However, this is problematic for ptdump as it walks ranges it does not own
and thus runs the risk of a use-after-free on page tables freed underneath
it.
In addition, concurrent CPA collapse operations are possible which can also
cause races.
Resolve the issue by acquiring the mmap write lock on init_mm across the
whole operation.
It is safe to acquire a sleeping lock as all the callers invoke
set_memory_rox() from process contex…
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-2026-97943 has been found in Linux kernel.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Linux kernel CVE-2026-97943" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-97943 (Linux kernel)
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: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
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。
Affected packages
Fix status by distribution
Fixed packages published by each distribution for this CVE
- Debian DEBIAN-CVE-2026-97943 linux Fixed in: 7.2.7-1
- Ubuntu UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97943 linux-hwe-edge
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- advisory github.com
- package git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web github.com