VulnerabilityPublished 8 Jun 2026Updated 19 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-46304: Linux kernel · nvmet: avoid recursive nvmet-wq flush in nvmet_ctrl_free

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High · fixed in ee6e20c4bc9eae542a0954a368449532383169d4 : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:30 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS

0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 28% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation: No evidence of active exploitation and no public proof of concept
Automatable: Attackers can reliably automate steps 1–4 of the kill chain
Technical impact: Limited control over the software or limited information exposure

CISA SSVC assessment, 2026-10-16.

Patch

Available – fixed in ee6e20c4bc9eae542a0954a368449532383169d4, ae5b0cad163833e10b271e9becc05d81dae56e5f, aade8abd8b868b6ffa9697aadaea28ec7f65bee6 +6

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 8 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected >=4.9.68 <4.10	Fixed in ee6e20c4bc9eae542a0954a368449532383169d4 ae5b0cad163833e10b271e9becc05d81dae56e5f aade8abd8b868b6ffa9697aadaea28ec7f65bee6 a696fbbd5240b4ac9b166f7bd4c550882ff543f1 781f47d641432c26c19625b2cdd7f40825097592 551f445a56a11a6457550cddcf39c9ebb8bcacc6 9a4d7222c0955b221e38bb66d10e6bccb672c8a1 8d66ba89480ff098a58d79003a505f383aa4e920 4.10
LinuxLinux	Affected =4.10	Fixed in–

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet: avoid recursive nvmet-wq flush in nvmet_ctrl_free nvmet_tcp_release_queue_work() runs on nvmet-wq and can drop the final controller reference through nvmet_cq_put(). If that triggers nvmet_ctrl_free(), the teardown path flushes ctrl->async_event_work on the same nvmet-wq. Call chain: nvmet_tcp_schedule_release_queue() kref_put(&queue->kref, nvmet_tcp_release_queue) nvmet_tcp_release_queue() queue_work(nvmet_wq, &queue->release_work) <--- nvmet_wq process_one_work() nvmet_tcp_release_queue_work() nvmet_cq_put(&queue->nvme_cq) nvmet_cq_destroy() nvmet_ctrl_put(cq->ctrl) nvmet_ctrl_free() flush_work(&ctrl->async_event_work) <--- nvmet_wq Previously Scheduled by :- nvmet_add_async_event queue_work(nvmet_wq, &ctrl->async_event_work); This trips lockdep with a possible recursive locking warning. [ 5223.015876] run blktests nvme/003 at 2026-04-07 20:53:55 [ 5223.061801] loop0: detected capacity change from 0 to 2097152 [ 5223.072206] nvmet: adding nsid 1 to subsystem blktests-subsystem-1 [ 5223.088368] nvmet_tcp: enabling port 0 (127.0.0.1:4420) [ 5223.126086] nvmet: Created discovery controller 1 for subsystem nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress.discovery for NQN nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:0f01fb42-9f7f-4856-b0b3-51e60b8de349. [ 5223.128453] nvme nvme1: new ctrl: NQN "nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress.discovery", addr 127.0.0.1:4420, hostnqn: nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:0f01fb42-9f7f-4856-b0b3-51e60b8de349 [ 5233.199447] nvme nvme1: Removing ctrl: NQN "nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress.discovery" [ 5233.227718] ============================================ [ 5233.231283] WARNING: possible recursive locking detected [ 5233.234696] 7.0.0-rc3nvme+ #20 Tainted: G O N [ 5233.238434] -------------------------------------------- [ 5233.241852] kworker/u192:6/2413 is trying to acquire lock: [ 5233.245429] ffff888111632548 ((wq_completion)nvmet-wq){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: touch_wq_lockdep_map+0x26/0x90 [ 5233.251438] but task is already holding lock: [ 5233.255254] ffff888111632548 ((wq_completion)nvmet-wq){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x5cc/0x6e0 [ 5233.261125] other info that might help us debug this: [ 5233.265333] Possible unsafe locking scenario: [ 5233.269217] CPU0 [ 5233.270795] ---- [ 5233.272436] lock((wq_completion)nvmet-wq); [ 5233.275241] lock((wq_completion)nvmet-wq); [ 5233.278020] *** DEADLOCK *** [ 5233.281793] May be due to missing lock nesting notation [ 5233.286195] 3 locks held by kworker/u192:6/2413: [ 5233.289192] #0: ffff888111632548 ((wq_completion)nvmet-wq){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x5cc/0x6e0 [ 5233.294569] #1: ffffc9000e2a7e40 ((work_completion)(&queue->release_work)){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: process_one_work+0x1c5/0x6e0 [ 5233.300128] #2: ffffffff82d7dc40 (rcu_read_lock){....}-{1:3}, at: __flush_work+0x62/0x530 [ 5233.304290] stack backtrace: [ 5233.306520] CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 2413 Comm: kworker/u192:6 Tainted: G O N 7.0.0-rc3nvme+ #20 PREEMPT(full) [ 5233.306524] Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE, [N]=TEST [ 5233.306525] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS rel-1.17.0-0-gb52ca86e094d-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 [ 5233.306527] Workqueue: nvmet-wq nvmet_tcp_release_queue_work [nvmet_tcp] [ 5233.306532] Call Trace: [ 5233.306534] <TASK> [ 5233.306536] dump_stack_lvl+0x73/0xb0 [ 5233.306552] print_deadlock_bug+0x225/0x2f0 [ 5233.306556] __lock_acquire+0x13f0/0x2290 [ 5233.306563] lock_acquire+0xd0/0x300 [ 5233.306565] ? touch_wq_lockdep_map+0x26/0x90 [ 5233.306571] ? __flush_work+0x20b/0x530 [ 5233.306573] ? touch_wq_lockdep_map+0x26/0x90 [ 5233.306577] touch_wq_lockdep_map+0x3b/0x90 [ 5233.306580] ? touch_wq_lockdep_map+0x26/0x90 [ 52 ---truncated---

CWE-667Improper Locking (opens in a new tab)
Class weakness
The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors.
Implementation · Libraries or Frameworks
Use industry standard APIs to implement locking mechanism.
Attack patterns
Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links (opens in a new tab)
Forced Deadlock (opens in a new tab)
Leveraging Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

WeaknessesCWE-667

Technical details

References

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