DMA channel unavailability via device reference underflow
Published Oct 6, 2026 · Updated Oct 6, 2026
Reference-count underflow in the Linux kernel dmaengine subsystem allows context-dependent attackers to disrupt DMA channel discovery. dma_chan_put() drops a device reference after every client release even though dma_chan_get() acquires that reference only for the first client, exhausting the device kref. The condition requires a non-private DMA provider with a persistent client and another client cycling dmaengine_get() and dmaengine_put(); later channel lookup returns no channel while the provider remains loaded.
Summary
What happened
Reference-count underflow in the Linux kernel dmaengine subsystem allows context-dependent attackers to disrupt DMA channel discovery. dma_chan_put() drops a device reference after every client release even though dma_chan_get() acquires that reference only for the first client, exhausting the device kref. The condition requires a non-private DMA provider with a persistent client and another client cycling dmaengine_get() and dmaengine_put(); later channel lookup returns no channel while the provider remains loaded.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98344
- 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
- Oct 6, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- 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?
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- Affected versionversion=5.6
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <036b527f92570206da4b8c40b38f8d689e29d0f3
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <1a0d9b406febf23054ad595fd47b29325e70fb2d
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <44dab659064eb5c10adb0306510eebe848ed592d
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <57f7f1c6827be7d8f80feca48d2125fb91c6f6ed
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <5fb1797a8c9485e40e5492fa0338ab5c7d1f3fef
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <77906ac448d2fa81fa710ae26c0e591ebdc81154
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <7c3f4ce651d43705f9ec7f778f642a90d5ff4fba
- Affected versionversion=8ad342a863590b24ce77681b7e081363fb3333f7 <de2677e57d3161390d8a508f08cddec6ef7e4b23
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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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
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
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