VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98509: Linux kernel · drm/virtio: fix memory leak of fence event on execbuffer failure

Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-98509· Medium

Not known to be exploited · fixed in b74aad23d99b279bb34d135795f39a6d8ecdc075 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 16:00 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 9% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in b74aad23d99b279bb34d135795f39a6d8ecdc075, ae583668f16d41fcc1b54f45848c1b6ac1d6669a, 43bfe2b60c149bf6effda25f245a00509061fa15 +2

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Oct 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.

ghsa-f38g-7gw9-c4x5

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ cd7f5ca33585918febe5e2f6dc090a21cfa775b0, < b74aad23d99b279bb34d135795f39a6d8ecdc075	Fixed in b74aad23d99b279bb34d135795f39a6d8ecdc075
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ cd7f5ca33585918febe5e2f6dc090a21cfa775b0, < ae583668f16d41fcc1b54f45848c1b6ac1d6669a	Fixed in ae583668f16d41fcc1b54f45848c1b6ac1d6669a
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ cd7f5ca33585918febe5e2f6dc090a21cfa775b0, < 43bfe2b60c149bf6effda25f245a00509061fa15	Fixed in 43bfe2b60c149bf6effda25f245a00509061fa15
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ cd7f5ca33585918febe5e2f6dc090a21cfa775b0, < 8fa78900fd24247277c03dc7b8a2864cb12d4340	Fixed in 8fa78900fd24247277c03dc7b8a2864cb12d4340
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ cd7f5ca33585918febe5e2f6dc090a21cfa775b0, < 4e333e2336138f4659b1d7a0371c499f80428612	Fixed in 4e333e2336138f4659b1d7a0371c499f80428612
LinuxLinux	Affected =5.16	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A fix is available that cancels and frees the DRM event on execbuffer failure paths and clears the fence's event pointer to prevent leaks. Users should update their Linux kernel to a version that includes this fix. Since this is a kernel-level issue, applying the official kernel patch or upgrading to a fixed kernel release is the recommended remediation.

Description

A memory leak vulnerability in the Linux kernel's drm/virtio driver was fixed. The issue occurs when an execbuffer operation fails, leaving a DRM fence event allocated but never freed, causing a permanent memory leak. This happens because the event is reserved early but not cancelled on error paths, and the driver loses the pointer to free it. The flaw was discovered via fuzzing with Syzkaller and affects the virtio_gpu_execbuffer_ioctl() function.

References

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