virt: vmgenid: set driver_data before registering notification handlers
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virt: vmgenid: set driver_data before registering notification handlers Both probe paths register their notification handler before assigning driver_data, which the handler dereferences. In the devicetree path, the notification IRQ can fire as soon as devm_request_irq() registers the handler: the interrupt may already be pending at probe time, for example when a VMM injects the generation-changed notification while restoring a guest from a snapshot that was taken before the driver had probed (Firecracker does exactly this on snapshot restore). The IRQ is also requested with IRQF_SHARED, so another device sharing the line can trigger the handler just as early. The handler then calls vmgenid_notify(), which dereferences the still-NULL driver_data and panics: Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000010 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 6.18.38+ #1 PREEMPT(none) Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) pc : vmgenid_notify.isra.0+0x24/0x8c lr : vmgenid_of_irq_handler+0x14/0x34 Call trace: vmgenid_notify.isra.0+0x24/0x8c (P) vmgenid_of_irq_handler+0x14/0x34 __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x44/0x1bc handle_irq_event+0x4c/0xb4 handle_fasteoi_irq+0xf8/0x1f8 The ACPI path has the same ordering problem: the handler is installed with acpi_install_notify_handler() before driver_data is assigned. ACPI notifications are dispatched asynchronously from a workqueue, so the window
CVE-2026-98841
Primary source · Revision 1
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: cve:CVE-2026-98841
Linux
Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- Not stated in this record
- Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Linux
Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/1/product
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- Not stated in this record
- Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "e07606713a908eee8099883c8c830ebe33aaf748",
"lessThan": "538fe5efaa9704ad820ba34b4f9df135ca873d79",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "e07606713a908eee8099883c8c830ebe33aaf748",
"lessThan": "7a1e8daeaa466c6aaffa223e1afe9cfeece0dd47",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "e07606713a908eee8099883c8c830ebe33aaf748",
"lessThan": "8f42954ad8bf9bdbf574f2c437ad30cb2601f401",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "e07606713a908eee8099883c8c830ebe33aaf748",
"lessThan": "9f8139c6145cf17d690d6c414d43b4c0bef632fb",
"versionType": "git"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"drivers/virt/vmgenid.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "unaffected"
},
{
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"product": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.10"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "6.10",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.113",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.56",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.10",
"versionType": "semver",
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*"
},
{
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
"lessThanOrEqual": "*"
}
],
"programFiles": [
"drivers/virt/vmgenid.c"
],
"defaultStatus": "affected"
}
]- Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-98841
Source reference:
/cveMetadata/cveId
Publisher severity
No explicit severity was provided.
- Event
- #38748 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date