CVE-2026-98117: cachefiles: Fix potential UAF/KASAN warning
High 7.8 EPSS 0.1% Linux kernel
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cachefiles: Fix potential UAF/KASAN warning Currently, trace_cachefiles_coherency() is being passed a pointer to a __be64 lain over the coherency data in struct cachefiles_xattr so that it can display the first 8 bytes. However, the data is of variable length and could even be 0 bytes. This could lead to a UAF or KASAN warning. Fix this by making sure the buffer has room for at least 8 bytes and that those 8 bytes are pre-cleared. Further, those bytes are not 8-byte aligned, so fix the tracepoint to extract the data as four 2-byte words (they are 2-byte aligned) and reassemble the __be64. The compiler will convert this into a single 8-byte load where the CPU supports it.
- CVE-2026-98117CVE identifier
- 7.8CVSS 3.1 base score (high)
- 0.1%EPSS: chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (higher than 2% of CVEs)
- 2026-09-25published
What do these terms mean? CVE · CVSS score · exploited (KEV) · EPSS · backported fix · all terms
What to do now
- Check whether you run Linux kernel and which version (commands below).
- Install the fixed version for your system: see “Patch it” below.
- Reboot into the new kernel (uname -r to confirm); live patching (kpatch, Ubuntu Livepatch, SUSE kGraft/klp) can defer the reboot for some CVEs
Affected and fixed versions
Affected:
- Linux Linux 229105e5cfd9832a9ef1368c96e0098ec3a5fbf0 to before 68d459e6e609c31f96a203dd6eec60c634f155e1
- Linux Linux 229105e5cfd9832a9ef1368c96e0098ec3a5fbf0 to before 93488ea378b4427598cace558236c110515d743b
- Linux Linux 229105e5cfd9832a9ef1368c96e0098ec3a5fbf0 to before a67632c8c2688d6e0091529bcefe54bc5ee80e9b
- Linux Linux 6.14
Patch it
Use the commands for your system. Distribution packages often keep an older version number with the fix backported, so compare with the fixed package versions in the table below, not only with the upstream version.
Debian
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade linux-image-amd64Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade linux-image-generic (or the installed flavour: linux-image-aws, -azure, -gcp, -virtual)RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky, Oracle
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh kernelFedora
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh kernelSUSE / openSUSE
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update kernel-defaultAmazon Linux
sudo dnf upgrade --releasever=latest kernel kernel6.12Arch Linux
sudo pacman -SyuAlpine
apk update && apk upgrade linux-lts linux-virtFreeBSD
not LinuxGeneral update steps for every system are on the Linux and Unix & BSD pages; after updating, see which services to restart.
Fix status in Linux distributions
| Release | Package | Status | Fixed version / advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12 | linux | not affected | |
| Debian 13 | linux | not affected | |
| Debian testing | linux | fixed | 7.2.7-1 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | kernel | out of support scope | |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | kernel | fix deferred | |
From the Debian security tracker, Ubuntu CVE tracker and Red Hat Security Data API, refreshed every few hours.
Sources
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/68d459e6e609c31f96a203dd6eec60c634f155e1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93488ea378b4427598cace558236c110515d743b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a67632c8c2688d6e0091529bcefe54bc5ee80e9b
- CVE-2026-98117 on CVE.org
- CVE-2026-98117 on NVD
Page generated automatically from official sources on 2026-11-03 18:05 UTC. Always confirm with your vendor's advisory.