CVE-2026-98226

Swapped-page loss via swap counter flag collision

Published Oct 6, 2026 · Updated Oct 6, 2026

Swap accounting error in Linux allows data loss when swapoff tears down a device holding 4 TiB of swapped pages. In mm/swapfile.c, SWAP_USAGE_OFFLIST_BIT uses a bit position derived from atomic_t inside an atomic_long_t usage counter, so swap_usage_in_pages() masks real usage as a flag. With 4 KiB pages and exactly 2^30 swapped pages, swapoff exits as if none remain; frees at that scale also corrupt the count and availability list.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Swap accounting error in Linux allows data loss when swapoff tears down a device holding 4 TiB of swapped pages. In mm/swapfile.c, SWAP_USAGE_OFFLIST_BIT uses a bit position derived from atomic_t inside an atomic_long_t usage counter, so swap_usage_in_pages() masks real usage as a flag. With 4 KiB pages and exactly 2^30 swapped pages, swapoff exits as if none remain; frees at that scale also corrupt the count and availability list.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-98226
Published
Oct 6, 2026
Updated
Oct 6, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
Unavailable
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 6, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=6.14
  2. Affected versionversion=b228386cf237e659cdf5d8037a19db0b0a06f6b5 <0a41a46859df0d2bd7ed127197aac7c7389c00ed
  3. Affected versionversion=b228386cf237e659cdf5d8037a19db0b0a06f6b5 <12e9ac7bc5b254048f886bf421e3a15491106c1f
  4. Affected versionversion=b228386cf237e659cdf5d8037a19db0b0a06f6b5 <7c0d0d6de46076b43a2acaf1026b6648f8434c39

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorUnavailable in this record.
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=6.14; version=b228386cf237e659cdf5d8037a19db0b0a06f6b5 <0a41a46859df0d2bd7ed127197aac7c7389c00ed; version=b228386cf237e659cdf5d8037a19db0b0a06f6b5 <12e9ac7bc5b254048f886bf421e3a15491106c1f; version=b228386cf237e659cdf5d8037a19db0b0a06f6b5 <7c0d0d6de46076b43a2acaf1026b6648f8434c39

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 28, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
VectorUnavailable
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

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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