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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-98610: Linux kernel · net/sched: sch_hfsc: bound the classify inner-filter walk with a drift budget

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

0
Authoritative record:CVE-2026-98610· High

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.8 High.

Data as of 28 Oct 2026, 01:28 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
6.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 18 Oct 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-5.5 – 7.0.0-38.38
23 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1014.14
15 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1017.17
15 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 7.0.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1016.16
9 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1014.14
13 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gkepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 7.0.0-1002.3 – 7.0.0-1008.9
6 affected builds
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/sched: sch_hfsc: bound the classify inner-filter walk with a drift budget hfsc_classify() applies the "filter may only point downwards" level check only when the filter result carries no bound class. A filter created with a flowid gets res.class set once at bind time, so the check never runs for it during classification. hfsc_adjust_levels() can later raise a class's level without revalidating existing bindings, leaving two binds that were each legal at bind time pointing at each other; the classify walk then bounces between two interior classes forever with the qdisc lock held and BH disabled — a soft lockup from a single packet. The stuck walk trips the watchdog: watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#3 stuck for 13s! [ping:444] RIP: 0010:u32_classify+0x542/0x17f0 ... tcf_classify+0x66/0xa0 hfsc_enqueue+0x166/0xdf0 Bound the traversal with a budget of non-descending hops, the only way a configured walk can move without descending the class tree once levels drift after bind time. The budget is cumulative over the whole walk and is deliberately not reset on a descending hop: a chain that alternates a descent with a lateral hop would return the budget every lap and never trip. Descending hops never decrement it, so legitimately deep trees are unaffected and a terminating lateral chain still classifies normally. Drop the packet with a rate-limited warning once the budget is exhausted, mirroring the merged HTB fix. This is a follow-up to commit 729c4896ab82 ("net/sched: sch_htb: limit htb_classify inner-class filter hops"), which bounded the same classify loop on the HTB side but left the HFSC walk unbounded. Conditions to recreate the bug: - CONFIG_NET_SCHED, CONFIG_NET_SCH_HFSC, CONFIG_NET_CLS_U32, CONFIG_LOCKUP_DETECTOR. - Build a cycle with two legal-at-bind-time flowid binds and a level drift: class X 1:1 (child of root) with leaf child 1:10; class Y 1:2 (sibling of X) with children 1:20 and 1:200; root u32 filter flowid 1:1; filter on X flowid 1:2 (legal when Y is a leaf); after Y's level rises to 2, filter on Y flowid 1:1 (legal then). Send one packet (ping on the device). Unfixed kernel: classify spins with the qdisc lock held; with softlockup_panic=1 it panics. - Reachable from unprivileged user via unshare -Urn (CAP_NET_ADMIN).

References

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