VulnerabilityPublished 25 Sep 2026Updated 19 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-97948: Linux kernel · powerpc/eeh: Fix recursive locking on devices without EEH sensitive driver

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · fixed in c5e68706527968282e49de205cc2b935823cb88a : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated Medium by Threat Radar's AI analysis · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 7% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in c5e68706527968282e49de205cc2b935823cb88a, a58531181363219fa5de2b53d5d7274dcdfca98b, 24524fca27da674668941440e8e05cdfec0b0222 +12

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 >=5.10.241 <5.10.271 >=5.15.190 <5.15.222 >=6.1.148 <6.1.189 >=6.6.102 <6.6.158 >=6.12.42 <6.12.111 >=6.15.10 <6.16 >=6.16.1 <6.17	Fixed in c5e68706527968282e49de205cc2b935823cb88a a58531181363219fa5de2b53d5d7274dcdfca98b 24524fca27da674668941440e8e05cdfec0b0222 3833dfae0680b6b16e2469fbc90aa48376311cd8 2920af33d097ca335e492b346af70b72986ad6dc 460fab22b65138531082910702f74b048b25237b 102e3dc5ab5ba052e294819e83384166b242c1ec 85d8eaefc052cf3e5ae2c7bafeda2db68b8898b4 6.17 6.16 6.12.111 6.6.158 6.1.189 5.15.222 5.10.271
LinuxLinux	Affected =6.17	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A fix for this issue has been released in Linux kernel versions 6.17 and 6.16, as well as backported versions in the 5.10, 5.15, 6.1, 6.6, and 6.12 series. Users and administrators should upgrade to these fixed kernel versions to resolve the recursive locking problem. No other mitigation is indicated or required.

Description

CVE-2026-97948 is a vulnerability in the Linux kernel's powerpc EEH (Enhanced Error Handling) subsystem. It involves recursive locking on devices that do not have EEH sensitive drivers, which can cause the EEH daemon to hang. The issue arises from a missed removal of lock/unlock calls after a code refactor, leading to deadlock conditions when handling certain PCI error events.

Impact

The vulnerability causes the EEH daemon to hang due to recursive locking, potentially impacting system stability and error recovery on affected powerpc devices. This can prevent proper handling of PCI error events on devices without EEH sensitive drivers, leading to degraded error management and possible system hangs during error conditions.

Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel's powerpc EEH code was introduced by a refactoring commit that held the pci_rescan_remove_lock at the start of eeh_handle_normal_event() and called eeh_reset_device() while holding this lock. However, the commit failed to remove redundant lock/unlock calls inside eeh_rmv_device(), causing recursive locking and a hang in the EEH daemon. The problem manifests when errors are detected on the PCI Host Bridge directly or when a device's driver returns PCI_ERS_RESULT_NEED_RESET but lacks EEH sensitive error handlers such as slot_reset() or resume(). This leads to deadlock since the lock is already held when the code path is taken.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 13:22 UTC

Technical details

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