VulnerabilityPublished 25 Sep 2026Updated 19 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-97904: Linux kernel · cpufreq: initialize policy rwsem before sysfs publication

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · fixed in dc11263cb05ed519758fd135fe08d611bad1f241 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

Severity

Unrated

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in dc11263cb05ed519758fd135fe08d611bad1f241, c9d8435814f2ac533c40fe3f35d94235bc3a9443, b22193eea2ce32c39dda5e09f9c2be2f3fd7eb4a +5

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Sep 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 ≥ 2fc3384dc75bf7333384c7a16d12c796f61c3f56, < dc11263cb05ed519758fd135fe08d611bad1f241	Fixed in dc11263cb05ed519758fd135fe08d611bad1f241
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 2fc3384dc75bf7333384c7a16d12c796f61c3f56, < c9d8435814f2ac533c40fe3f35d94235bc3a9443	Fixed in c9d8435814f2ac533c40fe3f35d94235bc3a9443
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 2fc3384dc75bf7333384c7a16d12c796f61c3f56, < b22193eea2ce32c39dda5e09f9c2be2f3fd7eb4a	Fixed in b22193eea2ce32c39dda5e09f9c2be2f3fd7eb4a
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 2fc3384dc75bf7333384c7a16d12c796f61c3f56, < b14987a0f73777644099f47f01aba3b0f9dc6c27	Fixed in b14987a0f73777644099f47f01aba3b0f9dc6c27
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 2fc3384dc75bf7333384c7a16d12c796f61c3f56, < 82a54923700da5de83ce2b26c0b43f6b5005c8f1	Fixed in 82a54923700da5de83ce2b26c0b43f6b5005c8f1
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 2fc3384dc75bf7333384c7a16d12c796f61c3f56, < 27c9b491bf7604e83b50c3bbfa18a30266ff345f	Fixed in 27c9b491bf7604e83b50c3bbfa18a30266ff345f

AI-suggested

A fix has been implemented and is available in the Linux kernel commits identified by the fixedVersions hashes. Users should update to a Linux kernel version that includes these commits to remediate the vulnerability.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel cpufreq subsystem was fixed by initializing the policy read-write semaphore (rwsem) before the sysfs publication of the policy object. Previously, sysfs callbacks could access the policy before the semaphore was initialized, potentially leading to race conditions or inconsistent state.

Impact

This flaw could lead to race conditions or inconsistent behavior when sysfs callbacks access the cpufreq policy before its semaphore is initialized. While the exact impact is not detailed, such a condition may affect system stability or correctness of CPU frequency management.

Summary

The Linux kernel's cpufreq_policy_alloc() function initialized the policy->rwsem semaphore after the sysfs kobject and its default attributes were created. This sequencing allowed sysfs accesses to invoke policy callbacks before the semaphore was initialized, which could cause synchronization issues. The fix involved initializing the policy->rwsem semaphore before publishing the policy kobject to sysfs, ensuring that all sysfs callbacks observe a properly initialized semaphore.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 13:36 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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