VulnerabilityPublished 25 Sep 2026Updated 21 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98056: Linux kernel · nvme: remove stale namespaces by NSID range during scan

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High · fixed in f56b2bb4b18b017b056c4c17c66b2c4c54bf6ee4 : 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: 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 49% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in f56b2bb4b18b017b056c4c17c66b2c4c54bf6ee4, e6a94b2c4c80a38002346ce915a9b9a3d478a3e6, c84ad7407fb16b92d9b7a649cc304a9cf3757897 +2

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 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 ≥ 540c801c65eb58e05e0ca38b6fd644a83d7e2b33, < f56b2bb4b18b017b056c4c17c66b2c4c54bf6ee4	Fixed in f56b2bb4b18b017b056c4c17c66b2c4c54bf6ee4
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 540c801c65eb58e05e0ca38b6fd644a83d7e2b33, < e6a94b2c4c80a38002346ce915a9b9a3d478a3e6	Fixed in e6a94b2c4c80a38002346ce915a9b9a3d478a3e6
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 540c801c65eb58e05e0ca38b6fd644a83d7e2b33, < c84ad7407fb16b92d9b7a649cc304a9cf3757897	Fixed in c84ad7407fb16b92d9b7a649cc304a9cf3757897
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 540c801c65eb58e05e0ca38b6fd644a83d7e2b33, < 52200fc41a79da430ccf7c126ed837535b087ea2	Fixed in 52200fc41a79da430ccf7c126ed837535b087ea2
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 540c801c65eb58e05e0ca38b6fd644a83d7e2b33, < 4ed7f3d7d435bf5b63da2814dc9270f5ba896011	Fixed in 4ed7f3d7d435bf5b63da2814dc9270f5ba896011
LinuxLinux	Affected =4.5	Fixed in–

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvme: remove stale namespaces by NSID range during scan nvme_scan_ns_list() drops the stale namespaces in each gap in the reported NSID list one NSID at a time. Every iteration calls nvme_find_get_ns() to look the namespace up and removes it if it is present. The loop runs once per NSID in the gap rather than once per namespace actually present. NSIDs are 32-bit, so a target with a sparse NSID space can make a single gap spin the loop billions of times with nothing to remove. watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#4 stuck for 26s! Workqueue: nvme-wq nvme_scan_work [nvme_core] RIP: 0010:__srcu_read_unlock+0xb/0x20 Call Trace: nvme_find_get_ns+0x7d/0xb0 [nvme_core] nvme_scan_ns_list+0xe8/0x280 [nvme_core] nvme_scan_work+0x18a/0x280 [nvme_core] process_one_work+0x197/0x380 worker_thread+0x2fe/0x410 kthread+0xe0/0x100 Rename nvme_remove_invalid_namespaces() to nvme_remove_nsid_range() and give it an open (start, end) NSID range. ctrl->namespaces is sorted by NSID, so the whole gap is dropped in a single walk that stops once end is reached. This bounds the work by the namespaces that are present instead of by the size of the gap.

References

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