UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98558: Low severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Q: Which deployments are most likely to encounter this issue?

Affected Ubuntu kernel packages listed include linux-riscv, linux-realtime, linux-azure, linux-gcp, linux-azure-fde, linux-gke, linux-hwe-edge, and linux-gkeop. The issue requires CPU offlining while deferred socket buffers are pending on that CPU.

Q: What conditions can leave buffers stranded?

Buffers can remain on an offlined CPU when the deferred-buffer count is below the sysctl_skb_defer_max IPI threshold, or when an IPI races with CPU teardown. A similar condition can occur when the offlined CPU was the last online CPU on its NUMA node, leaving buffers deferred from that node on idle remote CPUs.

Q: What operational impact should administrators look for?

If stranded buffers hold page_pool fragments, tearing down a network device or driver can cause page_pool_destroy() to wait indefinitely for inflight pages to be returned. The stranded buffers otherwise remain until the offlined CPU is brought back online.

Published Oct 18, 2026

Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: flush skbdefernodes in devcpudead() When a CPU goes offline, devcpudead() drains its softnet queues (completionqueue, outputqueue, polllist, processqueue, and inputpktqueue), but leaves nethotdata.skbdefernodes untouched. If oldcpu goes offline while holding pending skbs in its skbdefernodes lists (e.g. below the sysctlskbdefermax >> 1 IPI threshold, or if the IPI races with CPU teardown), those skbs remain stranded until oldcpu is brought back online. If any of these skbs hold pagepool fragments, pagepooldestroy() will stall indefinitely waiting for inflight pages to be returned when a netdev or driver is torn down while oldcpu is offline. Additionally, if smpcallfunctionsingleasync() fails in kickdeferlistpurge() because the target CPU went offline, reset deferipischeduled to 0 so future IPI kicks are not blocked when the CPU comes back online. Also, if oldcpu was the last online CPU on its NUMA node, drain that node's slot across all CPUs so no skbs deferred from that node remain stranded on idle remote CPUs (or if the node itself is subsequently offlined). Finally, in skbattemptdeferfree(), re-check cpuonline(cpu) and whether the caller migrated CPUs after llistadd(), flushing the node list if so, to close the preemption TOCTOU race against CPU/node teardown.

Affected Software

162 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-vmware*

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
Update the kernel skb defer handling so that kick_defer_list_purge() resets defer_ipi_scheduled to 0 when smp_call_function_single_async() fails because the target CPU is offline; dev_cpu_dead() drains the offline CPU's skb_defer_nodes, including draining the node slot across all CPUs when oldcpu was the last online CPU on its NUMA node; and skb_attempt_defer_free() re-checks cpu_online(cpu) and whether the caller migrated after llist_add(), flushing the node list when either teardown condition is detected.

Event History

Oct 18, 2026

CVE Published

via OSV·04:17 PM

Data Sourced

via OSV·04:17 PM

DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

Which deployments are most likely to encounter this issue?

Affected Ubuntu kernel packages listed include linux-riscv, linux-realtime, linux-azure, linux-gcp, linux-azure-fde, linux-gke, linux-hwe-edge, and linux-gkeop. The issue requires CPU offlining while deferred socket buffers are pending on that CPU.

What conditions can leave buffers stranded?

Buffers can remain on an offlined CPU when the deferred-buffer count is below the sysctl_skb_defer_max IPI threshold, or when an IPI races with CPU teardown. A similar condition can occur when the offlined CPU was the last online CPU on its NUMA node, leaving buffers deferred from that node on idle remote CPUs.

What operational impact should administrators look for?

If stranded buffers hold page_pool fragments, tearing down a network device or driver can cause page_pool_destroy() to wait indefinitely for inflight pages to be returned. The stranded buffers otherwise remain until the offlined CPU is brought back online.

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98558: Low severity ubuntu/linux-hwe-edge vulnerability

Affected Software

Remediation

Event History

Frequently Asked Questions

Which deployments are most likely to encounter this issue?

What conditions can leave buffers stranded?

What operational impact should administrators look for?

Company

Resources

Contact

Frequently Asked Questions

Which deployments are most likely to encounter this issue?

What conditions can leave buffers stranded?

What operational impact should administrators look for?