CVE-2026-98840

vc_screen: reload vc pointer before if (ret) in vcs_write() to avoid UAF

N/A
Published: October 18, 2026 at 03:50 PM UTC
Updated: October 21, 2026 at 01:21 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
N/A
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vc_screen: reload vc pointer before if (ret) in vcs_write() to avoid UAF The reload of 'vc' added by commit 8fb9ea65c9d1 ("vc_screen: reload load of struct vc_data pointer in vcs_write() to avoid UAF") sits after the 'if (ret)' block, so the copy-failure break path exits the loop without reloading vc. If the vc was kfree()'d via vc_port_destruct during the unlocked copy_from_user() window, the post-loop 'if (written && vc) vcs_scr_updated(vc)' is reached with a stale non-NULL vc. The '&& vc' guard from commit a287620312dc ("vc_screen: fix null-ptr-deref in vcs_notifier() during concurrent vcs_write") only handles the NULL case, not this stale-non-NULL case; vcs_notifier() then reads param->vc->vc_num from freed memory: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in vcs_notifier+0x7c/0xd0 Read of size 2 at addr ffff888007149190 Call Trace: vcs_notifier+0x7c/0xd0 atomic_notifier_call_chain+0x70/0xa0 vcs_scr_updated+0x77/0xa0 vcs_write+0x71b/0x7e0 Allocated by task: vc_allocate -> con_install -> tty_open Freed by task: kfree <- vt_ioctl (VT_DISALLOCATE -> vc_port_destruct) Move the reload to immediately after console_lock(), before 'if (ret)', so every break path below passes a fresh vc to the post-loop vcs_scr_updated().

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

09a43e81279b8da15526da09877134b8bcf618b043a6281790273c1b0a9ab76609ff0245b968f1e65.10.2605.15.2116.1.1776.12.956.18.376.6.1447.0.147.1.27.273049768ad57145acd337102c5aa3c788e6642c874be188eb2dc1c99d63986167b9a67d415fe73267cc3dd79777f6ae4625ec37e84dd18a26dc88bde8232fca738011ca2ec865b46ec721d1796dc0580a287620312dc6dcb9a093417a0e589bf30fcf38ab6bbb85cf45bf0b070e741997fe0af3a772c5ad5ff4806202749a51938236214adc0281481a57366
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.113 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.56 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.160 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2.10 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.3 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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