Kernel crash via freeing unallocated PCIe buffers
Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026
Linux 4.16 mpt3sas cleanup dereferences NULL after partial PCIe SGL allocation failure, interrupting kernel operation. The _base_release_memory_pools() loop passes unallocated ioc->pcie_sg_lookup[] entries to dma_pool_free() without checking their buffer pointers. The failure requires partial buffer allocation followed by cleanup; debug kernels emit a bad DMA warning instead, and no attacker-controlled trigger is documented.
Summary
What happened
Linux 4.16 mpt3sas cleanup dereferences NULL after partial PCIe SGL allocation failure, interrupting kernel operation. The _base_release_memory_pools() loop passes unallocated ioc->pcie_sg_lookup[] entries to dma_pool_free() without checking their buffer pointers. The failure requires partial buffer allocation followed by cleanup; debug kernels emit a bad DMA warning instead, and no attacker-controlled trigger is documented.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-90202
- Published
- Sep 17, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 17, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
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=4.16
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <240b582b6372bebb1245d911add9954b7dd6c02d
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <2dbdd025b228110ccbfbab95fe16e098313a14af
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <3361709fb6f6568b157c6f24ed21a4a5d86d73db
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <a61181f9ee30a98d2350c1bff32954a7521f9a23
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <afedf35df054bd713e9e13771aa0a056932c5c67
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <b9f679dfe629004b593f018df33b330d799bcee4
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <bc3398db3b64729b4a7907af317daad04795ad40
- Affected versionversion=dbec4c9040edc15442c3ebdb65408aa9d3b82c24 <e2cd23443d3616ea0876f27762b17e2ec67d896c
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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