Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-97961

Vulnerability details

The vulnerability allows a local user to corrupt the scheduler callback list.

The vulnerability exists due to unsafe list iteration in perf_pmu_sched_task() when processing perf PMU scheduler callbacks. A local user can invoke PERF_EVENT_IOC_REFRESH on a perf event to corrupt the scheduler callback list.

The issue is triggered when the event limit reaches zero during perf event overflow processing.

Affected software

How to mitigate CVE-2026-97961

External References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59e63416f5153e7d58652c616fbdcb7d5e01fff7
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d0b9ce3be221c9077653f3670d60d66bb725ee2
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/723e85fb2c3bcd237ac02cbd69502ed62ce0068c
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e2770c76a02452fddb52e9e05c7ed6acfef06c32

Related Security Bulletins

• Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release in Linux kernel events