Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-97997)
Summary
Vulnerability in Linux kernel (CVE-2026-97997). 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:
virtio_ring: fix stale descriptor flags after a failed packed add
In a packed ring the AVAIL and USED bits sit in the descriptor itself,
so writing them makes that descriptor available. Those bit combinations
flip meaning on every round of the ring, tracked by a wrap counter, so
invalidating or validating a descriptor means inverting both bits.
Commit 1ce9e6055fa0 ("virtio_ring: introduce packed ring support") has
virtqueue_add_packed() make every descriptor of a chain available as it
maps the chain, and write the head last. The device consumes the ring in
order and stops at a head that is not available yet, so it never reaches
the rest.
When vring_map_one_sg() fails partway, unmap_release unmaps the segments
and restores avail_used_flags, but the descriptors it wrote to in the
ring stay marked with AVAIL and USED bits. The head is now the only
entry that keeps the device from consuming these stale entries.
For example, the ring would look like this now.
Z - pre-previous command
A - previous command
B - aborted command
C - current command
[A1 DONE] [A2 DONE] [B2] [B3] [Z1 DONE]
When the driver now attempts to issue the C command, the next add starts
at the same head as B. If C spans less descriptors than B, there is no
end marker because AVAIL and USED bits were still in place. And that
means the device will start interpreting these stale entries (B2/B3) as
another command entry, which then…
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-2026-97997 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-2026-97997" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-97997 (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。
References
- web git.kernel.org
- web git.kernel.org
- web nvd.nist.gov
- web github.com
- web git.kernel.org