CVE-2026-98258

posix-cpu-timers: Prevent freeing a timer which is queued on the expiry list

CVE-2026-98258 is fixed in 20 products on 1 platform, first by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98258, released October 6, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: High.

High
CVSS
7.8
high
Exploitation
None reported
No vendor assessment
CISA KEV
Not listed
Not in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
EPSS
0.0019
8th percentile

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: posix-cpu-timers: Prevent freeing a timer which is queued on the expiry list Kijo analyzed another race in the POSIX CPU timer code: Commit bf635681c906 converted cpu_timer::firing from a tristate value to a boolean. This lost the distinction between "not owned by the firing list" and "still owned, but delivery was canceled". The resulting race is: expiry handler timer_settime() timer_delete() -------------- --------------- -------------- collect timer onto private firing list firing = true observes firing = true firing = false return TIMER_RETRY wait for handler observes firing = false finish deletion unhash and free timer resume list traversal read freed elist.next -> UAF The firing bit is clearly the wrong indicator since that commit. Check whether the timer is queued on the expiry list or not instead. If it is queued clear the firing bit to prevent signal delivery as before and return TIMER_RETRY so the caller unlocks the timer which allows the expiry code to make progress and remove it from the list.

Where it's fixed

ProductFixed inFixReleased
Linux
bpftool6.18 · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
bpftool6.18-debuginfo · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel-livepatch-6.18.54-121.166 · amzn 2023 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18 · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-debuginfo · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-debuginfo-common-aarch64 · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-debuginfo-common-x86_64 · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-devel · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-headers · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-modules-extra · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-modules-extra-common · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-tools · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-tools-debuginfo · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
kernel6.18-tools-devel · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
linux · Debian 14 7.2.8-1 DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98258 Oct 6, 2026
microvm-kernel6.18 · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
perf6.18 · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
perf6.18-debuginfo · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
python3-perf6.18 · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026
python3-perf6.18-debuginfo · amzn 2023 1:6.18.54-121.166.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2026-3192 Nov 7, 2026

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