Local denial of service via scheduler quantum overflow
Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026
Integer overflow in Linux's HHF scheduler allows local users to hang packet dequeuing through an oversized network-device MTU. In net/sched/sch_hhf.c, hhf_init() derives an unchecked quantum from the device MTU, allowing weight multiplied by quantum to overflow the signed deficit in hhf_dequeue() and loop indefinitely. Exploitation requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in a user namespace and an MTU plus link-layer header length that reaches the sign bit; the documented consequence is a scheduler hang.
Summary
What happened
Integer overflow in Linux's HHF scheduler allows local users to hang packet dequeuing through an oversized network-device MTU. In net/sched/sch_hhf.c, hhf_init() derives an unchecked quantum from the device MTU, allowing weight multiplied by quantum to overflow the signed deficit in hhf_dequeue() and loop indefinitely. Exploitation requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in a user namespace and an MTU plus link-layer header length that reaches the sign bit; the documented consequence is a scheduler hang.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-90073
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 17, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 17, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 17, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <0c66223e90ddb4fd3700965a9241f2fde7bd6bc7
- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <20b65bf7ca06e48ec1d62ed8012f71205328dbe4
- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <2164b512b97bb053e8ce4d6e95576f11bed6a005
- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <2446644b0f6d045b01db6acbaf55552dbec8a59a
- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <2e0f0729f922c8de13801004e2131b57646c7c5f
- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <99770b5d8e0e1c69b996f74a19d71afd2c4a9aa4
- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <dea2789a9d5ff38bdd77f2e64d550430899e2839
- Affected versionversion=10239edf86f137ce4c39b62ea9575e8053c549a0 <fa9c2055f0a60f801ccf286af53d387dc6202c3f
- Affected versionversion=3.14
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
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