# CVE-2026-99268: io_uring: wake ring pollers for local task_work

CVE-2026-99268 is fixed in linux on 1 platform by DEBIAN-CVE-2026-99268 (version 6.12.115-1), released November 3, 2026. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-99268
- Priority: Routine
- CVSS: 3.3 (Low)
- EPSS: n/a
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Nov 3, 2026
- Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-99268

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:  io_uring: wake ring pollers for local task_work  With IORING_SETUP_DEFER_TASKRUN completions are queued as local work, and only become CQEs when the submitter enters the kernel to wait for events. For an application that finds out via poll() or epoll on the ring fd when it is time to do that, io_uring_poll() reports EPOLLIN if local work is pending.  That only helps if the work is there at the time of the call. When DEFER_TASKRUN was added, io_req_local_work_add() did io_cqring_wake(), which took care of tasks sleeping in poll() as well. Then polling got a wait queue of its own, ->poll_wq, and the wake up in io_req_local_work_add() was replaced by waking the submitter directly. Since then ->poll_wq is only woken when CQEs are committed, which for such a ring is done by the very task that is waiting to be told to:    submitter                           completion   poll(ring_fd)     io_uring_poll()  // nothing yet     schedule()                                       io_req_local_work_add()                                         // ->cq_wait_nr: nobody waits   // sleeps on  Wake ->poll_wq when the first entry is put on the work list. Like for the eventfd, that must not be done right away if the work is queued from a wake up handler, as the chain of wake ups could get back to the wait queue whose lock is held. Use an RCU callback in that case, with a reference to the ring.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | linux Debian 13.5 (trixie) | 6.12.115-1 | [DEBIAN-CVE-2026-99268](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/debian-cve-2026-99268.md) | Nov 3, 2026 |

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Data as of 2026-11-08T13:06:02Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

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