Upstream information

CVE-2026-97941 at MITRE

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/slab: take n->list_lock in __slab_try_return_freelist() to avoid race

Commit ba7425312607 ("mm, slab: add an optimistic
__slab_try_return_freelist()") incorrectly assumed that nobody has freed
an object to the slab as long as slab->freelist is NULL and cmpxchg
succeeds.

However, as reported by Hyunwoo Kim [1], other CPUs might have freed
an object to the slab, insert the slab to the partial list, then
allocated an object from the slab, and be in the middle of removing
the slab from the list under n->list_lock.

Since __refill_objects_node() puts the slab back on pc.slabs
outside n->list_lock, it might insert the slab into that list while
the slab is concurrently being removed from n->partial.
This led to a list corruption [1]:

list_add corruption. next->prev should be prev
(ffff888100000248), but was dead000000000122.
(next=ffffea000416e410).
kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:29!
Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
CPU: 1 UID: 65534 PID: 144 Comm: poc Not tainted
7.2.0-16172-gcf72cbb39da8-dirty #1 PREEMPT(lazy)
RIP: 0010:__list_add_valid_or_report+0x80/0xd0
...
Call Trace:
alloc_from_new_slab+0x183/0x300
___slab_alloc+0x31c/0x890
__kmalloc_noprof+0x3d4/0x800
lsm_blob_alloc+0x2d/0x50
security_msg_msg_alloc+0x26/0x90
load_msg+0x1aa/0x210
do_msgsnd+0x91/0x800
do_syscall_64+0x109/0x5d0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
...
Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception

This is a classic ABA problem where cmpxchg succeeds but the state has
changed since __refill_objects_node() took the freelist from the slab.

As Vlastimil Babka mentioned [2], it should be rare to return more than
one slab (due to the racy read of slab->counters in
get_partial_node_bulk()). Therefore, instead of introducing additional
complexity, acquire and release n->list_lock twice in the worst case.

Return the slab directly to the partial list and hold n->list_lock
across the cmpxchg and add_partial(). This is similar to the initial
version of commit ba7425312607 [3]. This is enough to avoid the race as
the list manipulation is serialized by n->list_lock. While at it,
bring back unlikely() hint now that the condition is unlikely.

SUSE information

Overall state of this security issue: Resolved

This issue is currently rated as having moderate severity.

CVSS v3 Scores
CVSS detail CNA (NVD) Linux Kernel CNA SUSE
Base Score 7.8 7.8 5.5
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack Vector Local Local Local
Attack Complexity Low Low Low
Privileges Required Low Low Low
User Interaction None None None
Scope Unchanged Unchanged Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact High High None
Integrity Impact High High None
Availability Impact High High High
CVSSv3 Version 3.1 3.1 3.1

Note from the SUSE Security Team on the kernel-default package

SUSE will no longer fix all CVEs in the Linux Kernel anymore, but declare some bug classes as won't fix. Please refer to TID 21496 for more details.

SUSE Bugzilla entry: 1283150 [NEW]

No SUSE Security Announcements cross referenced.


Status of this issue by product and package

Please note that this evaluation state might be work in progress, incomplete or outdated. Also information for service packs in the LTSS phase is only included for issues meeting the LTSS criteria. If in doubt, feel free to contact us for clarification. The updates are grouped by state of their lifecycle. SUSE product lifecycles are documented on the lifecycle page.

Product(s) Source package State
Products under general support and receiving all security fixes.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.1 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP7 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.1 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-source-rt Not affected
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-source Not affected
Products under Long Term Service Pack support and receiving important and critical security fixes.
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 12 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-source Not affected
Products past their end of life and not receiving proactive updates anymore.
SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Enterprise Storage 6 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-BCL kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-BCL kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-default Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.0 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.1 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.2 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Server 4.3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 kernel-source Not affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP4 kernel-source-rt Not affected
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt Not affected
openSUSE Leap 15.3 kernel-source Not affected
openSUSE Leap 15.4 kernel-source Not affected
openSUSE Leap 15.4 kernel-source-rt Not affected
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-source Not affected
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-source-rt Not affected
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-source Not affected
Products at an unknown state of their lifecycle.
16.1 kernel-source Not affected


SUSE Timeline for this CVE

CVE page created: Tue Sep 29 16:55:23 2026
CVE page last modified: Wed Sep 30 15:03:15 2026