UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97916: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Q: Which systems are realistically exposed to this issue?

The affected packages listed are Ubuntu Linux kernel variants for riscv, realtime, Azure, GCP, Azure FDE, GKE, HWE Edge, and GKEOP. Exposure specifically involves systems using the Intel VPU accelerator driver and firmware logging path.

Q: What must occur for the out-of-bounds access to be triggered?

NPU firmware must modify tracing-log header metadata in a DMA-shared buffer after the driver validates the metadata but before it uses the values while printing logs. This race can cause the host kernel to dereference an out-of-bounds address.

Q: Is this caused by an external user changing a normal host-side log file?

No. The affected metadata resides in DMA-shared buffer objects writable by NPU firmware, rather than a normal host-side log file.

Q: How does the resolved code prevent the race?

The fix snapshots the validated header size and log size once using READ_ONCE(), then passes those saved values through an ivpu_fw_log_desc structure. The log-printing code no longer re-reads the mutable shared metadata after validation.

Published Sep 25, 2026

Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: accel/ivpu: Validate firmware log buffer metadata The tracing log headers parsed by fwlogprintbuffer() reside in DMA-shared BOs that the NPU firmware can write to. fwlogfrombo() validated log->headersize and log->size, but fwlogprintbuffer() re-read those same fields from shared memory afterwards, allowing a TOCTOU where firmware changes them between the check and the use, and making the host dereference out-of-bounds addresses while printing logs. Snapshot the validated values once with READONCE() and pass them down explicitly in a new struct ivpufwlogdesc instead of re-reading them from the shared struct.

Affected Software

161 affected componentsFixes available

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-azure-edge*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-gke-4.15*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.4*

ubuntu/linux-hwe*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge*

ubuntu/linux-oem*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.0*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.3*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gke-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop-5.15*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-intel-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.10*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.6*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.13*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-raspi2*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.11*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.8*

ubuntu/linux-allwinner-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-ibm-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-intel-iot-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oem-5.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.0*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.1*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-5.19*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.2*

ubuntu/linux-starfive-6.5*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.8*

ubuntu/linux*

ubuntu/linux-aws*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-aws-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-aws-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-azure-nvidia-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-gkeop*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0<7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1

7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-ibm*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency*

ubuntu/linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-lowlatency*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-tegra*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.11*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-oem-6.8*

ubuntu/linux-oracle*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-oracle-7.0*

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0<7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1

7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1

ubuntu/linux-xilinx*

ubuntu/linux-bluefield*

ubuntu/linux-raspi-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.14*

ubuntu/linux-realtime-6.17*

ubuntu/linux-aws-fips*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fips*

ubuntu/linux-fips*

ubuntu/linux-gcp-fips*

ubuntu/linux<7.0.0-42.42

7.0.0-42.42

ubuntu/linux-aws<7.0.0-1016.17

7.0.0-1016.17

ubuntu/linux-azure*

ubuntu/linux-azure-fde*

ubuntu/linux-gcp<7.0.0-1016.18

7.0.0-1016.18

ubuntu/linux-gke*

ubuntu/linux-ibm<7.0.0-1017.17

7.0.0-1017.17

ubuntu/linux-nvidia*

ubuntu/linux-nvidia-bos*

ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0<7.0.0-1017.17

7.0.0-1017.17

ubuntu/linux-oracle<7.0.0-1015.16

7.0.0-1015.16

ubuntu/linux-raspi*

ubuntu/linux-realtime*

ubuntu/linux-riscv<7.0.0-42.42.1

7.0.0-42.42.1

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-hwe-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1~24.04.1
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-aws to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-gcp to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1016.18
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-ibm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oem-7.0 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1017.17
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-oracle to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-1015.16
Upgrade
Upgrade ubuntu/linux-riscv to a version that resolves this vulnerability.
Fixed in 7.0.0-42.42.1
Compensating control
In accel/ivpu, snapshot the validated firmware log metadata values with READ_ONCE() and pass them explicitly in a new struct ivpu_fw_log_desc; ensure fw_log_print_buffer() uses those snapshots instead of re-reading header_size and size from the DMA-shared log structure.

Event History

Sep 25, 2026

CVE Published

via OSV·11:17 AM

Data Sourced

via OSV·11:17 AM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are realistically exposed to this issue?

The affected packages listed are Ubuntu Linux kernel variants for riscv, realtime, Azure, GCP, Azure FDE, GKE, HWE Edge, and GKEOP. Exposure specifically involves systems using the Intel VPU accelerator driver and firmware logging path.

What must occur for the out-of-bounds access to be triggered?

NPU firmware must modify tracing-log header metadata in a DMA-shared buffer after the driver validates the metadata but before it uses the values while printing logs. This race can cause the host kernel to dereference an out-of-bounds address.

Is this caused by an external user changing a normal host-side log file?

No. The affected metadata resides in DMA-shared buffer objects writable by NPU firmware, rather than a normal host-side log file.

How does the resolved code prevent the race?

The fix snapshots the validated header size and log size once using READ_ONCE(), then passes those saved values through an ivpu_fw_log_desc structure. The log-printing code no longer re-reads the mutable shared metadata after validation.

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-97916: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are realistically exposed to this issue?

What must occur for the out-of-bounds access to be triggered?

Is this caused by an external user changing a normal host-side log file?

How does the resolved code prevent the race?

Company

Resources

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

Which systems are realistically exposed to this issue?

What must occur for the out-of-bounds access to be triggered?

Is this caused by an external user changing a normal host-side log file?

How does the resolved code prevent the race?