CVE-2026-89998: dm: fix race when loading and unloading a table

Published Sep 16, 2026
·
Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

dm: fix race when loading and unloading a table

If the userspace calls two concurrent table load ioctls and one of them succeeds and the other fails, there is a race condition because dmsetupmdqueue walks &md->tabledevices without any lock. If the walk races with dmtabledestroy -> freedevices -> dmputtabledevice, there is access to invalid memory.

Fix this race by extending the lock over the list walk.

Affected Software

1 affected component
Linux Linux kernel

Event History

Sep 16, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·10:33 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·10:33 AM
Description

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What condition is required to trigger the race?

Userspace must issue two table-load ioctls concurrently for the same device-mapper context. The race occurs when one table load succeeds while the other fails, allowing table setup to walk table_devices as the failed table is destroyed.

2

What is the impact of a successful race?

The kernel can access invalid memory when dm_setup_md_queue walks the table_devices list concurrently with table destruction and removal of table devices.

3

What change addresses the issue?

The fix extends locking to cover the table_devices list walk, preventing dm_setup_md_queue from racing with dm_table_destroy and its device cleanup.

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