Infinite loop in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98488

Vulnerability identifier: #VU156788

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 5.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98488

CWE-ID: CWE-835

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service through a CPU soft lockup.

The vulnerability exists due to an unreachable loop termination condition in the Linux kernel atl1e driver's atl1e_clean_tx_irq() function when hardware reports an out-of-range hw_next_to_clean value during a PCIe link or MAC reset. A local user can trigger the affected transmit cleanup path under these conditions to cause an infinite loop and a CPU soft lockup.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-tegra-igx (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 (Ubuntu package)
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux-nvidia-tegra (Ubuntu package) - update to 5.15.0-1070.72
linux-nvidia-tegra-igx (Ubuntu package) - update to 5.15.0-1059.59
linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15 (Ubuntu package) - update to 5.15.0-1070.72~20.04.1
linux (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1015.16
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.17
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.17
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.17

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d8c85359b5075c7937925b673add7ed00e57ec8
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/34bc747a61bef572244b01b095552b629cd8d2a2
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/374bf9e4b90f979e052332c4faca2d745c491a12
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3a7d9271b37c80fb7db04aff3bc5621cfdaf9bee
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4b7161804d8f31227551901f93947bb4eea4690b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4bbb44075bd3e773d61706882ab923ece8b3b519
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a277422d194c62daa1b961f5f739689e53fe7301
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ca862b1a4af7eac19429ca7ab92625f94ff4a46c

• Infinite loop in Linux kernel atheros atl1e driver
• Ubuntu update for linux-oem-7.0
• Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp and more
• Ubuntu update for linux-nvidia-tegra, linux-nvidia-tegra-5.15, linux-nvidia-tegra-igx
• Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-aws-5.15 and more