Task hangs via premature anon_vma publication
Published Oct 18, 2026 · Updated Oct 18, 2026
A race in Linux kernel anonymous-memory management allows local users to hang tasks through concurrent faults on adjacent mappings. __anon_vma_prepare() publishes anon_vma before its root initialization becomes visible, allowing another thread to lock a stale root and unlock a different one. The race requires adjacent, unmerged but compatible mappings and leaves locks stuck; it was reproduced on arm64 with KSM enabled.
Summary
What happened
A race in Linux kernel anonymous-memory management allows local users to hang tasks through concurrent faults on adjacent mappings. __anon_vma_prepare() publishes anon_vma before its root initialization becomes visible, allowing another thread to lock a stale root and unlock a different one. The race requires adjacent, unmerged but compatible mappings and leaves locks stuck; it was reproduced on arm64 with KSM enabled.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98507
- Published
- Oct 18, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 18, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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- Affected versionversion=2.6.36
- Affected versionversion=5c341ee1dfc8fe69d66b1c8b19e463c6d7201ae1 <4cef512a955e4008ae4436a4fc97726976df1fdf
- Affected versionversion=5c341ee1dfc8fe69d66b1c8b19e463c6d7201ae1 <a500df43cde075f6ea4b8bae495d89f2c35b3e16
- Affected versionversion=5c341ee1dfc8fe69d66b1c8b19e463c6d7201ae1 <b6ac0b3f6013c168f22cad97e79967accacb08e1
- Affected versionversion=5c341ee1dfc8fe69d66b1c8b19e463c6d7201ae1 <d348a715380bfcc6a611bdf722169d53fd01e735
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
Public exploit references
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Technologies
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