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CVE-2026-98260

exec: Cleanup POSIX timers right after de_thread()

Products / packages Linux

Published

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Severity and exploitation

Not in CISA KEV

KEV coverage does not rule out exploitation.

KEV checked 14/11/2026, 21:15:32 UTC
Linux · CVSS:3.1 · 7.8
Assessment vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Severity

high7.8

CVSS measures technical severity, not the likelihood of an attack.

Known exploitation

Not listed in the checked CISA KEV catalog

Absence from CISA KEV does not rule out attacks.

Public exploit

Not established by this record

Missing evidence does not mean no public exploit exists.

Remediation

Fix status not established

No structured fix or guidance is available here. Check the latest publisher advisory.

What this means

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

Source excerpt · Linux

Attack conditions

No attack-condition excerpt has been identified here. Review the full source description and references for authentication, network access, and configuration requirements.

Review supporting sources →

Affected versions

Check the exact model, release, and any platform requirements against your installation.

Linux · Linux

Linux

6 ranges

Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.

affected

55e8c8eb2c7b6bf30e99423ccfe7ca032f498f59 → before f6c93e8ecaaf12959b7ef6eb611351001db2ff5d

git versions

55e8c8eb2c7b6bf30e99423ccfe7ca032f498f59 → before 6f1977cea3e85cd8ab55fb337d3e1725fe61d1ce

git versions

55e8c8eb2c7b6bf30e99423ccfe7ca032f498f59 → before d9ae467e617ca29b825493a362bf0d75ad5f4ac3

git versions

55e8c8eb2c7b6bf30e99423ccfe7ca032f498f59 → before 75aa08b93c65766040f9ca99f41ac85ad22596b6

git versions

55e8c8eb2c7b6bf30e99423ccfe7ca032f498f59 → before d602877baf36c43c788a5f472c977e0be414029f

git versions

55e8c8eb2c7b6bf30e99423ccfe7ca032f498f59 → before acb03d3881818581052924a9bbbe92b8741ed448

git versions

unaffected

unknown

Other versions: unaffected

Linux · Linux

Linux

8 ranges

Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.

affected

5.7

unaffected

0 → before 5.7

semver versions

6.1.191 → through 6.1.*

semver versions

6.6.158 → through 6.6.*

semver versions

6.12.112 → through 6.12.*

semver versions

6.18.54 → through 6.18.*

semver versions

7.2.8 → through 7.2.*

semver versions

7.3 → through *

original_commit_for_fix versions

unknown

Other versions: affected

Automatic dependency matching is unavailable for this record. Use the product evidence and publisher’s instructions to check your installation.

What to do

Compare your installed product and version with the affected versions above. A matching product name alone does not confirm exposure.

No structured fix or remediation guidance is available here. Check the full source description and vendor’s latest advisory for a patch or workaround; do not assume another version is safe.

cve.new guidance unless attributed to a publisher. This page does not inspect your installation.

Public exploit evidence

No public exploit reference is identified in the imported evidence. This is not a claim that no exploit exists.

Original source description

Read the full publisher description

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

exec: Cleanup POSIX timers right after de_thread()

A per-thread CPU timer holds a reference to the PID of the thread it is attached to and, while it is armed, its node is queued in that thread's posix_cputimers. The task is looked up by that PID.

When a non-leader thread exec()s, de_thread() changes which task owns that PID. pid_task(timer->it.cpu.pid, PIDTYPE_PID) then returns NULL, but the node is still queued on tsk, which is alive. timer_lock_sighand() takes a failed lookup to mean that the node is already dequeued, so it has nothing to undo.

begin_new_exec() calls posix_cpu_timers_exit(me) right after exec_task_namespaces() and that removes the leftover node, so the state normally stays invisible. But bprm->point_of_no_return is set before de_thread(), so if unshare_files(), set_mm_exe_file(), exec_mmap() or exec_task_namespaces() fails, the task dies before it gets there. exit_itimers() then frees the k_itimer while its node is still queued, and reaping tsk later erases that freed node from the rbtree.

In short:

  the non-leader thread B           the parent

timer_create(CLOCK_THREAD_CPUTIME_ID) timer_settime() arm_timer() // the node is queued on B execve() de_thread(B) exchange_tids(B, leader) // B's PID now belongs to the leader release_task(leader) __exit_signal(leader) posix_cpu_timers_exit(leader) // cleans leader's queue, not B's __unhash_process(leader) // that PID has no task anymore exec_mmap() mmap_read_lock_killable(old_mm) kill(B, SIGKILL) // -EINTR get_signal() do_exit() exit_itimers() posix_timer_delete() posix_cpu_timer_del() posix_timer_unhash_and_free() // freed while still queued wait4() release_task(B) posix_cpu_timers_exit(B) cleanup_timerqueue() timerqueue_del() // use-after-free

Move the POSIX timer cleanup right after de_thread() before any of the later failure conditions brings the task into do_exit().

[ tglx: Move the cleanup right after de_thread() ]

References

6 sources

Inside the record

Evidence available

Package identity · not supplied
Version evidence
Remediation guidance · not supplied
Weakness classification · not supplied
Additional publishers · not supplied

Describes the evidence in this view, not whether the product is safe.

Original records

CVE-2026-98260

View the latest unmodified CVE JSON from the official source. It may be newer than this imported page.

cve.new JSON →

Environment requirements

These conditions apply together as specified by the publisher. A matching product name alone does not establish exposure.

Linux · platform conditions

Any condition may hold

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.7

Before: 6.1.191

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.7

Before: 6.6.158

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.7

Before: 6.12.112

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.7

Before: 6.18.54

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.7

Before: 7.2.8

Vulnerable product

cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

From (inclusive): 5.7

Before: 7.3

Applicability preview
[
  {
    "nodes": [
      {
        "operator": "OR",
        "negate": false,
        "cpeMatch": [
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.7",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.1.191"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.7",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.6.158"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.7",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.12.112"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.7",
            "versionEndExcluding": "6.18.54"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.7",
            "versionEndExcluding": "7.2.8"
          },
          {
            "vulnerable": true,
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionStartIncluding": "5.7",
            "versionEndExcluding": "7.3"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
]
Contributing organizations · 1
Linux

Assigning organization

2026-10-30

Timeline

All times UTC
  1. Advisory published

    Publication date supplied by the source.

  2. Source updated

    Latest modification date supplied by the source.

  3. Last imported by cve.new

    Latest catalog import, not the date we first saw this advisory.

What changed

Follow changes
No substantive changes have been recorded here yet. History starts when cve.new observes a change after tracking is enabled; earlier edits are not reconstructed.

Large field values are marked as truncated previews. Original source snapshots remain retained.