In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
block: stop the timeout timer when releasing a never added disk
disk_release() undoes blk_mq_init_allocated_queue() for a disk whose
probe failed before add_disk(), but it only calls blk_mq_exit_queue().
Nothing there stops q->timeout, and that timer rolls forward: it stays
pending until it next expires, not until the last request completes.
So if the driver issued any I/O before adding the disk, the
request_queue is freed while still linked into a timer wheel bucket.
Commit 6f8191fdf41d ("block: simplify disk shutdown") dropped the
blk_cleanup_queue() call that used to stop it. __del_gendisk() and
blk_mq_destroy_queue() still do; only the probe failure path lost it.
nvme gets there because nvme_update_ns_info() submits Report Zones or
FDP io-mgmt-recv on ns->queue before the disk is added, so a later
failure - a concurrent reset setting NVME_CTRL_FROZEN, or
device_add_disk() failing - lands in put_disk() with the timer armed:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in detach_if_pending+0x30c/0x340
Write of size 8 at addr ffff888004d71310 by task kworker/u8:2/37
__timer_delete_sync+0x156/0x240 kernel/time/timer.c:1621
blk_sync_queue+0x22/0x40 block/blk-core.c:222
nvme_sync_queues+0x100/0x150 drivers/nvme/host/core.c:5362
nvme_reset_work+0x138/0x930 drivers/nvme/host/pci.c:3264
Allocated by task 34:
__blk_mq_alloc_disk+0x33/0x100 block/blk-mq.c:4462
nvme_alloc_ns+0x290/0x3870 drivers/nvme/host/core.c:4146
Freed by task 0:
blk_free_queue_rcu+0x3a/0x50 block/blk-core.c:254
rcu_core+0xc10/0x1730 kernel/rcu/tree.c:2857
The queue being synced there is ctrl->admin_q, only a victim sharing a
timer wheel bucket with the freed queue's dangling entry; other runs
tripped in enqueue_timer(), __run_timers() or blk_mq_timeout_work().
Failing nvme_alloc_ns() with a debug patch makes it deterministic: one
leaked timer trips KASAN within seconds, while 1987 patched releases
produced no splat.
Stop the timer and the queue work items before blk_mq_exit_queue(), like
blk_mq_destroy_queue() does.
Found by FuzzNvme.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (9.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 9.8 CRITICALCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.4% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-19). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; 60 days if it is not.Each input and its source: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; 60 days if it is not.
In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it