Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98885

Vulnerability identifier: #VU157619

CSH Severity: Low

CVSS v4: 0 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]

CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98885

CWE-ID: CWE-754

Exploitation vector: Local access

Exploit availability: No public exploit available

The vulnerability allows a local user to trigger kernel warnings during file integrity appraisal.

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient checks for file write restrictions in the Linux kernel's ima_fix_xattr() function when updating extended attributes during integrity appraisal. A local user can open a file subject to appraisal on a read-only ext4 filesystem to trigger an extended attribute update that attempts to start an invalid filesystem transaction, producing a kernel warning.

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/2f29f880e98bf0087215726c45a485afd15b42cf
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4d98295357bcacb70874e73117e298a9d7d9b830
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/69fc6474236d9edda6983623e4282f2bdfd8e3d8
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86acb68ebb220b83def94e7f4c33e24e843970e0
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c77312728d07b60fc028f676e42d842df918bcd
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c6988714c0549e06610635c7a71e88635da6db64
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dce1b66fcfb40c935f426f602c3a41a7b9f62ba4

• Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions in Linux kernel integrity ima
• 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