Soft lockup via unclamped scheduler MTU
Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026
Integer overflow in Linux kernel fq_codel allows local users to hang the kernel via an oversized network-device MTU. In net/sched/sch_fq_codel.c, fq_codel_init() copies an unclamped device MTU into the scheduling quantum, overflowing the signed flow deficit during dequeue and causing an infinite loop. Exploitation requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in a user namespace and a device accepting a sign-bit-crossing MTU; the same oversized CoDel parameter also disables congestion drops and ECN marking.
Summary
What happened
Integer overflow in Linux kernel fq_codel allows local users to hang the kernel via an oversized network-device MTU. In net/sched/sch_fq_codel.c, fq_codel_init() copies an unclamped device MTU into the scheduling quantum, overflowing the signed flow deficit during dequeue and causing an infinite loop. Exploitation requires CAP_NET_ADMIN in a user namespace and a device accepting a sign-bit-crossing MTU; the same oversized CoDel parameter also disables congestion drops and ECN marking.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-90075
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 17, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- 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
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- Affected versionversion=3.5
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <324f86806673ae4a55f66d28db84577f46f615e1
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <3782067ec0d485628b6f1f9ede3eeeb4f611fcf2
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <397e2b1f71d9f15b8b4e47d24eb620e4dff8878d
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <9f499e5827fdb6d7fdb46a7ce731852f6b1a1bb9
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <a9a5b2943a00df2ab81a2209f31dd9e87016f120
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <d315ee8a07fd1810880227319cf60e6cd925ef22
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <d9ebd8f9aa8b2773235889cb903fafd61f2d8585
- Affected versionversion=4b549a2ef4bef9965d97cbd992ba67930cd3e0fe <dfb4b61db886917244284b18b44b23d2254b82c2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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