CVE-2026-97989

What it is

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vduse: validate virtqueue alignment vduse_validate_config() only checks the upper bound of vq_align. Invalid values can therefore reach vring_create_virtqueue_map(). The split-ring helpers use align - 1 as a bit mask, so the alignment must be a non-zero power of two. A zero value makes vring_size() drop the descriptor and available-ring part and vring_init() leave the used ring pointer NULL. The VIRTIO spec requires the used ring to start at an address aligned to at least 4 bytes. Reject values below VRING_USED_ALIGN_SIZE as well as non-power-of-two values before they reach the virtio ring helpers. Opening a virtio-net device created with vq_align=0 triggered: BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in virtqueue_kick_prepare_split+0xe3/0x100 Read of size 2 at addr 0000000000000000 by task systemd-network/1062 Call Trace (relevant frames): dump_stack_lvl print_report kasan_report __asan_load2 virtqueue_kick_prepare_split+0xe3/0x100 virtqueue_kick_prepare+0x40/0x60 try_fill_recv+0x857/0x1250 virtnet_open+0x189/0x460 __dev_open+0x225/0x390 __dev_change_flags+0x368/0x3b0 netif_change_flags+0x56/0xc0 do_setlink.isra.0+0x68c/0x1e30 Validate the value before it reaches the virtio ring helpers.

At a glance

Exploit odds

0.2% 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. 2026-09-25 11:17 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-21 13:21 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.2% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: not scored yet.
• Fix: none linked yet, which raises it.

Details

Published

2026-09-25 11:17 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-21 13:21 UTC

Exploit probability

0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days

Record status

Received

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