Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98831
Published: October 22, 2026
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to leak kernel resources, potentially causing a denial of service through resource exhaustion.
The vulnerability exists due to missing release of fragment references in the Linux kernel device tree overlay component when overlay changeset initialization fails after some fragments have been initialized. A local user can potentially trigger repeated initialization failures to accumulate unreleased target and overlay references and exhaust kernel resources.
Affected software
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-lowlatency (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package)
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package)
linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gkeop (Ubuntu package)
linux-gke (Ubuntu package)
linux-vmware (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-fips (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-fips (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fips (Ubuntu package)
linux-raspi-realtime (Ubuntu package)
linux-realtime-6.8 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-azure-fde (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-98831
linux (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-149.149, 7.0.0-43.43
linux-lowlatency (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-149.149.1
linux-raspi (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1068.72, 7.0.0-1023.23
linux-azure (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1073.82, 7.0.0-1020.21
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1073.81, 7.0.0-1017.19
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1069.74, 7.0.0-1017.18
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1069.70, 7.0.0-1018.18
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1067.71, 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-nvidia (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1067.70
linux-realtime (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.1-1064.65, 7.0.0-43.43.1
linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-149.149.1~22.04.1
linux-azure-fde-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1071.78~22.04.1
linux-azure-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1073.82~22.04.1
linux-oracle-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1067.71~22.04.1
linux-aws-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1069.74~22.04.1
linux-gkeop (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1053.57
linux-gke (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 6.8.0-1068.77, 7.0.0-1010.11
linux-vmware (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1010.10
linux-ibm-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1069.70~22.04.1
linux-gcp-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1073.81~22.04.1
linux-aws-fips (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1069.74+fips1
linux-gcp-fips (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1073.81+fips1
linux-azure-fips (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-1073.82+fips1
linux-raspi-realtime (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.0-2056.58
linux-realtime-6.8 (Ubuntu package) - update to 6.8.1-1064.65~22.04.1
linux-oracle-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18~24.04.1
linux-azure-fde-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1019.19~24.04.1
linux-gcp-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.19~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1018.18
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
External References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1d62f0f2bc7edb12ed09f71203df0e47fa4efca4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3a23fb158ba517b77a2e5258263bdfdaa480f758
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/702b5db6e7b3865be70675d57d6fd7dde80d02b6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a46f1917b320cc8762183b802301da02a191b6a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/894573e2fdaeb1b15030b7eebc22615edf28a6cd
Related Security Bulletins
- Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime in Linux kernel of 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-aws-fips, linux-gcp-fips, linux-gkeop and more
- Ubuntu update for linux-azure-6.8, linux-azure-fde-6.8
- Ubuntu update for linux-oracle-6.8, linux-raspi, linux-raspi-realtime
- Ubuntu update for linux-aws-6.8, linux-gcp-6.8, linux-ibm-6.8 and more
- Ubuntu update for linux, linux-aws, linux-azure and more
- Ubuntu update for linux-raspi