Improper initialization in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98723

Vulnerability identifier: #VU157070

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 5.3 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98723

CWE-ID: CWE-665

Exploitation vector: Remote access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a remote user to bypass persistent reservation abort enforcement and leave outstanding I/O active after reservation preemption.

The vulnerability exists due to incorrect initialization ordering in the Linux kernel NVMe target controller allocation path when creating per-controller reservation references before copying the host identifier into the controller. A remote user can submit I/O that remains active when another host successfully issues Preempt and Abort because the reservation references contain a nil UUID that prevents matching and aborting the preempted host's outstanding operations.

The issue occurs when a namespace with reservations enabled exists before the host connects, including on reconnection.

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gke (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-43.43
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-43.43.1
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.18
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.19
linux-azure (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1020.21
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1023.23
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1018.18
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1018.18
linux-gke (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1010.11
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1019.19
linux-aws-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.18~24.04.1

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/23194531595c5d1d4454e3a607b0c8fc0c4e8695
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5211fed41d7ec90e9ab7239dc4bffffe4d0b2b62
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d3d6d7efdacc08616d23b3ac42272a494951dc0f

• Improper initialization in Linux kernel nvme target driver
• Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp and more
• Ubuntu update for linux-azure
• Ubuntu update for linux-aws-7.0, linux-azure-fde, linux-azure-fde-7.0 and more
• Ubuntu update for linux-raspi