CriticalCVE-2026-89969

    Linux Kernel: Out-of-Bounds Write (CVE-2026-89969)

    Published Last modified Sources: Debian LTS, Debian, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, BSI

    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet-tcp: fix out-of-bounds write when receiving an over-long PDU nvmet_tcp_try_recv_pdu() reads a PDU header into the fixed 128-byte queue->pdu union, then computes the remaining payload length as queue->left = hdr->hlen - queue->offset + hdgst; and reads that many more bytes into &queue->pdu + queue->offset, without ever bounding the result against sizeof(queue->pdu). A struct nvme_tcp_icreq_pdu is itself 128 bytes, exactly the size of the union.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 5.10.270, Linux Kernel to version 5.15.221, Linux Kernel to version 6.1.188.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.0..5.10.270
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.11..5.15.221
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.188
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.157
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.110
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.51
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.2.5
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 5.10.270
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.221
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.188
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.157
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.110
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.51
    • Linux Kernel 7.2.5
    • Linux Kernel 7.3

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    9.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    9.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: Debian LTS, Debian, CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, BSI

    0.7 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 53.4

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    99.49 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    9.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    9.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.7 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    53.4
    High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet-tcp: fix out-of-bounds write when receiving an over-long PDU nvmet_tcp_try_recv_pdu() reads a PDU header into the fixed 128-byte queue->pdu union, then computes the remaining payload length as queue->left = hdr->hlen - queue->offset + hdgst; and reads that many more bytes into &queue->pdu + queue->offset, without ever bounding the result against sizeof(queue->pdu). A struct nvme_tcp_icreq_pdu is itself 128 bytes, exactly the size of the union. Once a header digest has been negotiated (hdgst = 4), a second ICReq passes the hlen == nvmet_tcp_pdu_size() check but yields queue->left = 128 - 8 + 4 = 124, so bytes 8..132 are written into the 128-byte buffer -- 4 bytes past its end, over queue->hdr_digest and queue->data_digest. Those bytes are attacker-controlled (an ICReq carries no digest), and the duplicate ICReq is only rejected later, after the overflow. A remote unauthenticated host can thus corrupt kernel memory adjacent to the receive buffer. Reject any PDU whose declared length would read past the end of queue->pdu before the second recv.

    Source: Debian LTS Advisories, Debian Security Advisories, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), Microsoft Security Update Guide, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.51
    • 6.19 – < 7.2.5
    • 5.11 – < 5.15.221
    • —
    • 5.0 – < 5.10.270
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.110
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.188
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.157
    • 6.18.51
    • 7.2.5
    • 5.15.221
    • 7.3
    • 5.10.270
    • 6.12.110
    • 6.1.188
    • 6.6.157

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianlinuxbookworm
    Linuxdebianlinuxtrixie
    Linuxdebianlinux-6.12bookworm

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedLinux

      1 individual change: Affected versions (publisher)

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/89xxx/CVE-2026-89969.json">CVE-2026-89969</a>

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    2. Record modifiedLinux

      CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    3. ReceivedLinux

      Description added or changed

      Show 10 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet-tcp: fix out-of-bounds write when receiving an over-long PDU nvmet_tcp_try_recv_pdu() reads a PDU header into the fixed 128-byte queue->pdu union, then computes the remaining payload length as queue->left = hdr->hlen - queue->offset + hdgst; and reads that many more bytes into &queue->pdu + queue->offset, without ever bounding the result against sizeof(queue->pdu). A struct nvme_tcp_icreq_pdu is itself 128 bytes, exactly the size of the union. Once a header digest has been negotiated (hdgst = 4), a second ICReq passes the hlen == nvmet_tcp_pdu_size() check but yields queue->left = 128 - 8 + 4 = 124, so bytes 8..132 are written into the 128-byte buffer -- 4 bytes past its end, over queue->hdr_digest and queue->data_digest. Those bytes are attacker-controlled (an ICReq carries no digest), and the duplicate ICReq is only rejected later, after the overflow. A remote unauthenticated host can thus corrupt kernel memory adjacent to the receive buffer. Reject any PDU whose declared length would read past the end of queue->pdu before the second recv.
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/89xxx/CVE-2026-89969.json">CVE-2026-89969</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/14cc5a7e77731497d5bea70f3bb05df7eda982e4
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3a385e0c39efbe34db8edd95900c123113ae3450
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4f84d42c53c49557fb1ef285c683b0a81b576c74
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/58dc6035b79c4c73c0cbf9ec9f68a7f117b2b3e6
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3f0bcfbaf3312a5754d1ce020a07d394669eb25
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cf5f39d2b58f97e0cd1829c4a6aeef17f1607cca
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d95d342bc0ea82dc79e6362b2f1f997431750e4c
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dbc4acbdb3ca8c81441368ad7409b8f77d4de8f6

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

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