Local service interruption via non-NCQ command starvation
Published May 27, 2026 · Updated May 27, 2026
Command starvation in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to interrupt non-NCQ storage operations through ATA commands. The ata_scsi_qc_issue() path repeatedly returns SCSI_MLQUEUE_XXX_BUSY for a non-NCQ command while other submission queues keep issuing NCQ commands, so the deferred operation makes no forward progress. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, a multi-queue host adapter, and sustained NCQ traffic; the consequence is prolonged delay or complete starvation of non-NCQ disk operations.
Summary
What happened
Command starvation in affected Linux Kernel releases allows local users to interrupt non-NCQ storage operations through ATA commands. The ata_scsi_qc_issue() path repeatedly returns SCSI_MLQUEUE_XXX_BUSY for a non-NCQ command while other submission queues keep issuing NCQ commands, so the deferred operation makes no forward progress. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, a multi-queue host adapter, and sustained NCQ traffic; the consequence is prolonged delay or complete starvation of non-NCQ disk operations.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-45855
- Published
- May 27, 2026
- Updated
- May 27, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 27, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 27, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.10
- Affected versionversion=bdb01301f3ea51a59eff252b06643fc1fe843e57 <0ea84089dbf62a92dc7889c79e6b18fc89260808
- Affected versionversion=bdb01301f3ea51a59eff252b06643fc1fe843e57 <5d61a38a60e62750526d94663b69b7ac5c7f07a5
- Affected versionversion=bdb01301f3ea51a59eff252b06643fc1fe843e57 <888cd7e40adb2ef4af1b4d3b6e2e83ad409ae8c2
- Affected versionversion=bdb01301f3ea51a59eff252b06643fc1fe843e57 <ce22aaed011206fed9cbd8c9c2d44718607f31ee
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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