VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026Updated 26 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98815: Linux kernel · nvme: fix cdev lifetime

Affects Linux kernelSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited : upgrade to 9952f3882ecba709092379b71e02b09762b26f96 or 98b09ad7934482e64db4b4477d91e3bbf43adf4c soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:07 UTC

Severity

High

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

EPSS: 0.1% 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 9952f3882ecba709092379b71e02b09762b26f96, 98b09ad7934482e64db4b4477d91e3bbf43adf4c

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.

What to do

Upgrade Linux kernel to 9952f3882ecba709092379b71e02b09762b26f96 or 98b09ad7934482e64db4b4477d91e3bbf43adf4c.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 2637baed78010eeaae274feb5b99ce90933fadfb, < 9952f3882ecba709092379b71e02b09762b26f96	Fixed in 9952f3882ecba709092379b71e02b09762b26f96
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 2637baed78010eeaae274feb5b99ce90933fadfb, < 98b09ad7934482e64db4b4477d91e3bbf43adf4c	Fixed in 98b09ad7934482e64db4b4477d91e3bbf43adf4c
LinuxLinux	Affected =5.13	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

A fix for this vulnerability is available in the Linux kernel as indicated by the fixed commit hashes. Users and administrators should update to a kernel version that includes these fixes. No additional mitigation steps are indicated or required beyond applying the official patch.

Description

CVE-2026-98815 is a use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel's NVMe subsystem related to character device (cdev) lifetime management. The flaw occurs in multipath mode when the NVMe namespace head is torn down, allowing open cdev file operations to reference freed memory. This can lead to kernel memory corruption and potential system instability or crashes. The issue was reported by the Sashiko bot and has been fixed in later kernel commits.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability can cause use-after-free conditions in kernel memory, leading to potential kernel crashes or memory corruption. This impacts system stability and could be leveraged for denial of service or other kernel-level attacks. There is no indication of known exploits in the wild at this time.

Summary

The vulnerability in the Linux kernel NVMe driver involves improper handling of the cdev lifetime in multipath mode. When the NVMe namespace head is torn down, the code calls nvme_cdev_del() which eventually calls cdev_del(). However, cdevs that remain open after cdev_del() returns still have callable file operations, leading to references to freed nvme_ns_head structures. This use-after-free condition can be triggered by delaying between opening the cdev and issuing an ioctl while the namespace head is being removed. The flaw was demonstrated with kernel address sanitizer (KASAN) detecting slab-use-after-free errors. The issue has been resolved in specific kernel commits identified by their hashes.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Oct 2026, 09:31 UTC

Technical details

References

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