Denial of service via unbounded object destruction
Published Oct 18, 2026 · Updated Oct 18, 2026
Stack exhaustion in Linux BPF allows local users to cause a denial of service by dropping deeply nested local-kptr object chains. btf_check_and_fixup_fields() omits local referenced kptrs from ownership validation, allowing bpf_obj_free_fields() to recurse through unchecked chains. Reaching the flaw requires permission to load and execute BPF programs using those objects; the disclosed consequence is kernel-stack exhaustion, not data disclosure.
Summary
What happened
Stack exhaustion in Linux BPF allows local users to cause a denial of service by dropping deeply nested local-kptr object chains. btf_check_and_fixup_fields() omits local referenced kptrs from ownership validation, allowing bpf_obj_free_fields() to recurse through unchecked chains. Reaching the flaw requires permission to load and execute BPF programs using those objects; the disclosed consequence is kernel-stack exhaustion, not data disclosure.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98613
- Published
- Oct 18, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 18, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- Unavailable
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
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.
- Affected versionversion=6.12
- Affected versionversion=b0966c724584a5a9fd7fb529de19807c31f27a45 <4105870a4b8afe852aeb24a6dd58e1836cc4ce58
- Affected versionversion=b0966c724584a5a9fd7fb529de19807c31f27a45 <92aa0502c781d72bb9685245c3280efb3766a110
- Affected versionversion=b0966c724584a5a9fd7fb529de19807c31f27a45 <9c11e543fec32e92b3aa3f693339ca3ee79ea9dd
- Affected versionversion=b0966c724584a5a9fd7fb529de19807c31f27a45 <bfc888f04588f591851e95c974954cfca58e6c19
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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