Boot failure via omitted r2 clobber
Published Sep 24, 2026 · Updated Sep 24, 2026
A register-clobber flaw in affected Linux kernels crashes PowerPC during interrupt handling and can prevent the kernel from booting. The call_do_irq and call_do_softirq inline assembly omits r2 from its clobber lists, so the compiler preserves live values in a caller-saved register that __do_irq or __do_softirq overwrites. The failure requires CONFIG_PPC_KERNEL_PCREL and compiler allocation of a live value to r2 across the stack-switching call.
Summary
What happened
A register-clobber flaw in affected Linux kernels crashes PowerPC during interrupt handling and can prevent the kernel from booting. The call_do_irq and call_do_softirq inline assembly omits r2 from its clobber lists, so the compiler preserves live values in a caller-saved register that __do_irq or __do_softirq overwrites. The failure requires CONFIG_PPC_KERNEL_PCREL and compiler allocation of a live value to r2 across the stack-switching call.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-93259
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 24, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 24, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=6.4
- Affected versionversion=7e3a68be42e10f5fa5890e97afc0afd992355bc3 <00be69070d91d2be978e752bb117a0a4db0e1281
- Affected versionversion=7e3a68be42e10f5fa5890e97afc0afd992355bc3 <602ee44415f3eaa7893f7fc488c7c1d4a0bdbd7a
- Affected versionversion=7e3a68be42e10f5fa5890e97afc0afd992355bc3 <7b0093b638c8f2b94b0778a69fd1ccad54299b29
- Affected versionversion=7e3a68be42e10f5fa5890e97afc0afd992355bc3 <90d953002cf0b233dd053a0e7cb67ab79cebd0e3
- Affected versionversion=7e3a68be42e10f5fa5890e97afc0afd992355bc3 <dcc442a49c0f540193910dacdca7506bcadc7ec5
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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Public exploit references
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Technologies
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