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virtio_ring: fix stale descriptor flags after a failed packed add

Type: advisorySource: Official CVE List1 source record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio_ring: fix stale descriptor flags after a failed packed add In a packed ring the AVAIL and USED bits sit in the descriptor itself, so writing them makes that descriptor available. Those bit combinations flip meaning on every round of the ring, tracked by a wrap counter, so invalidating or validating a descriptor means inverting both bits. Commit 1ce9e6055fa0 ("virtio_ring: introduce packed ring support") has virtqueue_add_packed() make every descriptor of a chain available as it maps the chain, and write the head last. The device consumes the ring in order and stops at a head that is not available yet, so it never reaches the rest. When vring_map_one_sg() fails partway, unmap_release unmaps the segments and restores avail_used_flags, but the descriptors it wrote to in the ring stay marked with AVAIL and USED bits. The head is now the only entry that keeps the device from consuming these stale entries. For example, the ring would look like this now. Z - pre-previous command A - previous command B - aborted command C - current command [A1 DONE] [A2 DONE] [B2] [B3] [Z1 DONE] When the driver now attempts to issue the C command, the next add starts at the same head as B. If C spans less descriptors than B, there is no end marker because AVAIL and USED bits were still in place. And that means the device will start interpreting these stale entries (B2/B3) as another command entry, which then blocks the queue.

Announced Source revision 1
Original source ↗

CVE-2026-97997

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-2026-97997

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": "1ce9e6055fa0a9043405c5604cf19169ec5379ff",
        "lessThan": "5ad081761a1f0b0d95ab08b61a6008309fba95f9",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1ce9e6055fa0a9043405c5604cf19169ec5379ff",
        "lessThan": "cfe8128ceb78374b0f9cebb608bb48e3928d784a",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1ce9e6055fa0a9043405c5604cf19169ec5379ff",
        "lessThan": "3e6400e3b8b858cdf0f8d70b20d8b55d703af368",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1ce9e6055fa0a9043405c5604cf19169ec5379ff",
        "lessThan": "d595358276b60e5df4d3930bc94033249b1d5adc",
        "versionType": "git"
      },
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "1ce9e6055fa0a9043405c5604cf19169ec5379ff",
        "lessThan": "75d276e5bb68778b2916f98a2bc30f142ebadc64",
        "versionType": "git"
      }
    ],
    "programFiles": [
      "drivers/virtio/virtio_ring.c"
    ],
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
  },
  {
    "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
    "vendor": "Linux",
    "product": "Linux",
    "versions": [
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "5.0"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "0",
        "lessThan": "5.0",
        "versionType": "semver"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.6.160",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.6.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.12.114",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "6.18.57",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "7.2.7",
        "versionType": "semver",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*"
      },
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "7.3",
        "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix",
        "lessThanOrEqual": "*"
      }
    ],
    "programFiles": [
      "drivers/virtio/virtio_ring.c"
    ],
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  }
]
Related CVEs
CVE-2026-97997

Source reference: /cveMetadata/cveId

Publisher severity

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Event
#48826 · Revision 1
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