UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98037: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Q: Which Ubuntu kernel package families are identified as affected?

The listed package families are ubuntu/linux-riscv, ubuntu/linux-realtime, ubuntu/linux-azure, ubuntu/linux-gcp, ubuntu/linux-azure-fde, ubuntu/linux-gke, ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge, and ubuntu/linux-gkeop.

Q: What conditions are needed to trigger the unsafe path?

A BPF program must use a local kptr after its final RCU read-side critical section ends, when the pointer has been demoted to PTR_UNTRUSTED but still retains MEM_ALLOC. The vulnerable validation can then allow it as an argument to bpf_refcount_acquire() or related graph kfunc handling, despite the pointer potentially being NULL or stale.

Q: What is the potential result of exploitation?

The affected kfunc can dereference NULL or stale memory after RCU lifetime protection has ended.

Q: What does the fix change for BPF pointer handling?

The fix makes type_is_ptr_alloc_obj() reject PTR_UNTRUSTED pointers, so they are no longer accepted as live allocated objects. Fault-protected reads of the demoted pointer remain valid; writes were already rejected.

Published Sep 25, 2026

Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Reject untrusted allocated-object pointers When the final RCU read-side critical section ends, a local kptr is demoted to PTRUNTRUSTED but retains MEMALLOC. The pointer may be NULL or may refer to an object whose lifetime is no longer protected. typeisptrallocobj() nevertheless recognizes any PTRTOBTFID with MEMALLOC as a live allocated object. In particular, a refcount-only local kptr never carries NONOWNREF, so it still passes the bpfrefcountacquire() argument check after RCU protection ends. The kfunc can then dereference NULL or stale memory. Make typeisptrallocobj() reject PTRUNTRUSTED pointers. Since typeisnonowningref() is based on the same predicate, graph kfunc arguments obey the same live-object requirement. Fault-protected reads of the demoted pointer remain valid: writes are already rejected, and read fixups use bpfmayfaultonderef() rather than this predicate. [ kkd: Rewrote commit log ]

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

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 Ubuntu kernel package families are identified as affected?

The listed package families are ubuntu/linux-riscv, ubuntu/linux-realtime, ubuntu/linux-azure, ubuntu/linux-gcp, ubuntu/linux-azure-fde, ubuntu/linux-gke, ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge, and ubuntu/linux-gkeop.

What conditions are needed to trigger the unsafe path?

A BPF program must use a local kptr after its final RCU read-side critical section ends, when the pointer has been demoted to PTR_UNTRUSTED but still retains MEM_ALLOC. The vulnerable validation can then allow it as an argument to bpf_refcount_acquire() or related graph kfunc handling, despite the pointer potentially being NULL or stale.

What is the potential result of exploitation?

The affected kfunc can dereference NULL or stale memory after RCU lifetime protection has ended.

What does the fix change for BPF pointer handling?

The fix makes type_is_ptr_alloc_obj() reject PTR_UNTRUSTED pointers, so they are no longer accepted as live allocated objects. Fault-protected reads of the demoted pointer remain valid; writes were already rejected.

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98037: Medium severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Ubuntu kernel package families are identified as affected?

What conditions are needed to trigger the unsafe path?

What is the potential result of exploitation?

What does the fix change for BPF pointer handling?

Company

Resources

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Ubuntu kernel package families are identified as affected?

What conditions are needed to trigger the unsafe path?

What is the potential result of exploitation?

What does the fix change for BPF pointer handling?