CVE-2026-97528
📛 CVE Title
scsi: qla2xxx: Unlink NVMe unsol ctx before freeing on LS reject error
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: qla2xxx: Unlink NVMe unsol ctx before freeing on LS reject error qla_nvme_xmt_ls_rsp() obtains uctx, which was linked into fcport->unsol_ctx_head by qla2xxx_process_purls_iocb() and is still linked when the NVMe transport calls back to transmit the LS response. On the error (out:) path the function frees uctx with kfree() but never removes it from the list. This leaves a freed node in fcport->unsol_ctx_head: the next list_add_tail() for that fcport writes through the freed node, and a subsequent list_del() can corrupt the list or panic. Unlink uctx with list_del() before kfree() on the error path, matching the other free sites in qla_nvme_release_lsrsp_cmd_kref() and qla2xxx_process_purls_pkt(). qla2x00_rel_sp() in the failure path only returns the SRB to its pool and does not invoke sp->put_fn, so the out: path is the sole free and uctx is always still linked there.
Overview
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Assigner (CNA)
- Linux
- CVSS severity
- HIGH
- CVSS score
- 8.8 / 10
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H- Effective score
- 8.8 / 10 HIGH source: CNA overview
- CWE(s)
- —
- Reserved
- 2026-09-24
- Published
- 2026-09-25 10:21 UTC
- Last updated
- 2026-09-25 14:41 UTC
- Source
- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2026/97xxx/CVE-2026-97528.json
- Linked Threat
- CVE-2026-97528 — scsi: qla2xxx: Unlink NVMe unsol ctx before freeing on LS reject error
NVD triage scoring NVD CVE 2.0
Layer NVD adds on top of the CNA's CVE record — published / last-modified timestamps, exploitability / impact subscores, and the FIRST.org EPSS probability that this CVE will be exploited in the wild in the next 30 days.
- NVD published
- 2026-09-25 11:17:02 UTC
- NVD last modified
- 2026-09-25 15:17:58 UTC
- NVD CVSS v3.1
- 8.8 / 10 HIGH source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
- NVD CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H- Exploitability subscore
- 2.8 / 10
- Impact subscore
- 5.9 / 10
NVD / KEV / EPSS data refreshed 2026-09-26 04:35 UTC. Re-run the 🛰 Backfill from NVD button above to refresh.
Affected products (2)
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux |
875386b98857822b77ac7f95bdf367b70af5b78c (affected),
875386b98857822b77ac7f95bdf367b70af5b78c (affected),
875386b98857822b77ac7f95bdf367b70af5b78c (affected)
|
— |
| Linux | Linux |
6.6 (affected),
0 (unaffected),
6.18.53 (unaffected),
7.2.7 (unaffected),
7.3-rc1 (unaffected)
|
— |
Vendor references (3)
References embedded in the original CVE record by the assigning CNA.
Web references (0)
DuckDuckGo results ranked by threat-intel / vendor advisory domains. Generated by the 🔎 Find references (web) button above — same flow as the Remediations search.
No web references attached yet.
NVD-tagged references (3)
Reference list NVD curates from the CNA record, vendor advisories, and third-party reports. The tag chips below are NVD's analyst-assigned categories.
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a95fc5f1c12bba1dbff72bd2611e7fad0758831b 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c55d649a6cc246c3ccd5d118faea230c46b60f35 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e46160a5d4fa59bf4d5f3412b6b5cb79edb967dd 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
AI Forensic Analysis
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Raw JSON
The full cvelistV5 record. Download as CVE-2026-97528.json.
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_nvme.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "a95fc5f1c12bba1dbff72bd2611e7fad0758831b",
"status": "affected",
"version": "875386b98857822b77ac7f95bdf367b70af5b78c",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "c55d649a6cc246c3ccd5d118faea230c46b60f35",
"status": "affected",
"version": "875386b98857822b77ac7f95bdf367b70af5b78c",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "e46160a5d4fa59bf4d5f3412b6b5cb79edb967dd",
"status": "affected",
"version": "875386b98857822b77ac7f95bdf367b70af5b78c",
"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/scsi/qla2xxx/qla_nvme.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.6"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.6",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.53",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.7",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3-rc1",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.18.53",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.6",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.2.7",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.6",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.3-rc1",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.6",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nscsi: qla2xxx: Unlink NVMe unsol ctx before freeing on LS reject error\n\nqla_nvme_xmt_ls_rsp() obtains uctx, which was linked into\nfcport->unsol_ctx_head by qla2xxx_process_purls_iocb() and is still linked\nwhen the NVMe transport calls back to transmit the LS response. On the\nerror (out:) path the function frees uctx with kfree() but never removes\nit from the list. This leaves a freed node in fcport->unsol_ctx_head: the\nnext list_add_tail() for that fcport writes through the freed node, and a\nsubsequent list_del() can corrupt the list or panic.\n\nUnlink uctx with list_del() before kfree() on the error path, matching the\nother free sites in qla_nvme_release_lsrsp_cmd_kref() and\nqla2xxx_process_purls_pkt(). qla2x00_rel_sp() in the failure path only\nreturns the SRB to its pool and does not invoke sp->put_fn, so the out:\npath is the sole free and uctx is always still linked there."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"baseScore": 8.8,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"scenarios": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "AV:A - Unsolicited FC-NVMe LS frames are posted as PT_LS4_UNSOL; qla24xx_msix_rsp_q() (or qla2xxx_msix_rsp_q \u2192 qla_do_work) runs qla24xx_process_response_queue() \u2192 qla2xxx_process_purls_iocb(), then DPC qla2xxx_process_purls_pkt() \u2192 nvme_fc_rcv_ls_req() and nvme_fc_xmt_ls_rsp() call qla_nvme_xmt_ls_rsp(). FC/FCoE is a non-routable SAN fabric, so Adjacent is the highest defensible vector.\nAC:L - qla_nvme_xmt_ls_rsp() kfree()s uctx on out: when qla2x00_get_sp(GFP_ATOMIC) fails, qla2x00_start_sp() fails after five -EAGAIN retries, or fcport->deleted is set. A peer floods CREATE_ASSOCIATION LS onto base_qpair or sends LS then LOGO so deleted is set before nvme_fc_handle_ls_rqst_work() calls xmt_ls_rsp; both sides are attacker-driven.\nPR:N - qla2xxx_process_purls_iocb() looks up the sender with qla2x00_find_fcport_by_nportid(incl_deleted=0) and handles PT_LS4_UNSOL in the MSI-X/DPC path with no Linux credential or capability check. FC-SP/EDIF is opt-in; being a logged-in NVMe N_Port is fabric membership, not a privilege on the victim host.\nUI:N - qla24xx_queue_purex_item() sets PROCESS_PUREX_IOCB; qla2xxx_process_purls_pkt() and the nvme_fc rport lsrcv_work then call qla_nvme_xmt_ls_rsp() with no victim mount, open, or administrator action.\nS:U - kfree() of uctx while it remains on fcport->unsol_ctx_head corrupts that per-fcport list and the host kernel heap inside the qla2xxx driver. Impact stays in the same kernel security authority; it is not a VM escape or IOMMU/DMA bypass.\nC:H - After qla_nvme_xmt_ls_rsp() kfree()s uctx, the next qla2xxx_process_purls_iocb() list_add_tail() and a later list_del() in qla_nvme_release_lsrsp_cmd_kref() or qla2xxx_process_purls_pkt() operate on the freed qla_nvme_unsol_ctx. That use-after-free of a kmalloc object enables disclosure of reused kernel heap.\nI:H - list_add_tail(&uctx->elem, &fcport->unsol_ctx_head) writes next/prev through the already-freed node, and list_del() of a neighbor stores those pointers into adjacent heap objects. Combined with attacker-driven uctx allocations of known size, that is a kernel write primitive usable for control-flow hijack.\nA:H - list_add_tail()/list_del() on the dangling uctx->elem oopses on LIST_POISON or panics on a corrupted next/prev, and the remote peer can repeat PT_LS4_UNSOL to hit the out: path again, taking down the host and its FC-NVMe storage path."
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-09-25T14:41:08.621Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a95fc5f1c12bba1dbff72bd2611e7fad0758831b"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c55d649a6cc246c3ccd5d118faea230c46b60f35"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e46160a5d4fa59bf4d5f3412b6b5cb79edb967dd"
}
],
"title": "scsi: qla2xxx: Unlink NVMe unsol ctx before freeing on LS reject error",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-97528",
"datePublished": "2026-09-25T10:21:30.130Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-09-24T16:01:01.153Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-09-25T14:41:08.621Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2"
}