CVE-2026-89973

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvme-tcp: check the data direction of a C2HData PDU nvme_tcp_handle_c2h_data() finds the request by command id and checks that it has a payload, but it does not check that the command asked for data to be read. A controller that answers a write command with C2HData therefore reaches nvme_tcp_recv_data(), where _copy_to_iter() hits WARN_ON_ONCE(i->data_source) and returns 0. The receive path turns that into -EFAULT and resets the controller. No data is copied, so this is not memory corruption. What a controller gets is a kernel warning it can raise at will, which is fatal on a host booted with panic_on_warn. The send path already knows the direction - it consults rq_data_dir() when it builds a command - and nvme_tcp_handle_r2t() checks the length and the offset of the request it names. The C2HData path does not check the direction at all. Reject a C2HData PDU whose command is not a read. Rejecting it fails the command and resets the controller, as the neighbouring check in this function does; what goes away is the warning. [ 6.885580] ------------[ cut here ]------------ [ 6.886457] WARNING: lib/iov_iter.c:193 at _copy_to_iter+0x289/0x1330, CPU#0: kworker/0:1H/71 [ 6.888137] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 71 Comm: kworker/0:1H Not tainted 7.2.0-rc5-NVMETCP-gf5098b6bae76 #1 PREEMPT(lazy) [ 6.891165] Workqueue: nvme_tcp_wq nvme_tcp_io_work [ 6.891875] RIP: 0010:_copy_to_iter+0x289/0x1330 [ 6.903739] Call Trace: [ 6.904085] <TASK> [ 6.909254] __skb_datagram_iter+0x433/0x820 [ 6.911026] skb_copy_datagram_iter+0x37/0x120 [ 6.911622] nvme_tcp_recv_skb+0xa07/0x4320 [ 6.913378] __tcp_read_sock+0x1ab/0x810 [ 6.915788] nvme_tcp_try_recv+0x152/0x1e0 [ 6.918222] nvme_tcp_io_work+0x1e4/0x6c0 [ 6.926906] </TASK> [ 6.927226] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- [ 6.927878] nvme nvme0: queue 1 failed to copy request 0x71 data [ 6.928709] nvme nvme0: receive failed: -14

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.6% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

1. 2026-09-16 11:17 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-19 09:18 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Details

Published

2026-09-16 11:17 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-19 09:18 UTC

Exploit probability

0.6% · EPSS, next 30 days

Record status

Received

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 8.2

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

High