CVE-2026-98888 json
arm64: kprobes: Allow reentering kprobes while single-stepping
published 19d ago modified 17d ago also EUVD-2026-108682
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 8%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
arm64: kprobes: Allow reentering kprobes while single-stepping
A kprobe can be hit while another kprobe is in KPROBE_HIT_SS state. This can happen when tracing or perf code runs from the debug exception path while the first kprobe is preparing or executing its out-of-line single-step instruction.
Currently arm64 treats a kprobe hit in KPROBE_HIT_SS as unrecoverable, the same as a hit in KPROBE_REENTER. This is too strict. A hit in KPROBE_HIT_SS is still a one-level reentry and can be handled by saving the current kprobe state and setting up single-step for the new probe, just like reentry from KPROBE_HIT_ACTIVE or KPROBE_HIT_SSDONE.
The truly unrecoverable case is hitting another kprobe while already in KPROBE_REENTER, because the reentry save area has already been consumed.
Move KPROBE_HIT_SS to the recoverable reentry cases and leave KPROBE_REENTER as the unrecoverable nested reentry case.
This change also requires saving saved_irqflag in struct prev_kprobe. When a nested kprobe calls kprobes_save_local_irqflag(), it overwrites kcb->saved_irqflag with the currently masked DAIF value, losing the outer kprobe's original DAIF state. Without this fix, when the outer kprobe's single-step finishes, kprobes_restore_local_irqflag() applies the wrong DAIF mask and leaves interrupts permanently disabled.
Extend struct prev_kprobe with a saved_irqflag field and save/restore it alongside kp and status. This ensures the outer kprobe's original interrupt state is preserved across reentry.
This mirrors the x86 fix in commit 6a5022a56ac3 ("kprobes/x86: Allow to handle reentered kprobe on single-stepping").
Patch / fix
- Linux Linux 7.2
- linux Debian 12 6.1.190-1
- linux Debian 13 6.12.111-1
- linux Debian 14 7.2.6-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98888
- linux Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-202.212
- linux Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-149.149
- linux Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-42.42
- linux-aws Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1119.126
- linux-aws Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1069.74
- linux-aws Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 7.0.0-1016.17
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 5.15.0-1120.130
- linux-gcp Ubuntu 24.04 LTS 6.8.0-1073.81
ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98888
Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
- kernel Azure Linux 3.0 6.6.159.1-1
azure linux advisories AZL-110629
Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/bb0fe9121aa0824211aafa33c7d0151fd25ddb75 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/f96a0606de6bcc8d937b80e6470fd7a174c17e26 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/1f342b3e44c3035a837b53b217d816f7511c0d0a commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c8e84e292ed4cfc199824146da71bb4397b02a1f commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/68774caca799e9695db56d426c69acebd041c2ed commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a21bf9cb893126e8d9730995708d0be5eb167652 commit
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/23f851ac0078a908bf3422d6467ebc1db5828c46 commit
Is CVE-2026-98888 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.
Check with FencerVendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-98888 updated cvss 4.4
kernel: arm64: kprobes: Allow reentering kprobes while single-stepping
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +83 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 kernel Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8, openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9affected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 morenot affected: vulnerable code not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
Exploit prediction
0.19% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 8% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).
Affected products
- Linux Linux
Classification
- Technology feeds
References
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/bb0fe9121aa0824211aafa33c7d0151fd25ddb75
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/f96a0606de6bcc8d937b80e6470fd7a174c17e26
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/1f342b3e44c3035a837b53b217d816f7511c0d0a
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/c8e84e292ed4cfc199824146da71bb4397b02a1f
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/68774caca799e9695db56d426c69acebd041c2ed
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/a21bf9cb893126e8d9730995708d0be5eb167652
- git.kernel.org /stable/c/23f851ac0078a908bf3422d6467ebc1db5828c46
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-98888
- NVD CVE-2026-98888
Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.