Kernel panic via failed TTY activation
Published Oct 18, 2026 · Updated Oct 18, 2026
Race condition in Linux TTY port handling allows local users to crash the kernel when an ioctl overlaps hangup and open. In drivers/tty/tty_port.c, tty_port_open clears TTY_IO_ERROR before activation but fails to restore it on activation failure, permitting I/O against unavailable ports. Exploitation requires access to an affected TTY and the race with a powered-down or deregistered port; invalid accesses or NULL-pointer dereferences cause a kernel panic.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in Linux TTY port handling allows local users to crash the kernel when an ioctl overlaps hangup and open. In drivers/tty/tty_port.c, tty_port_open clears TTY_IO_ERROR before activation but fails to restore it on activation failure, permitting I/O against unavailable ports. Exploitation requires access to an affected TTY and the race with a powered-down or deregistered port; invalid accesses or NULL-pointer dereferences cause a kernel panic.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98753
- Published
- Oct 18, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 18, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- 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?
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- Affected versionversion=2.6.33
- Affected versionversion=a9a37ec33a1b3e66b260ac1c29bff0aec8b89ae4 <34d4f67472ef7a744970b772a8565ddc727788e2
- Affected versionversion=a9a37ec33a1b3e66b260ac1c29bff0aec8b89ae4 <56964f6a31238fb41d5830bb42520c5b10ff7d8f
- Affected versionversion=a9a37ec33a1b3e66b260ac1c29bff0aec8b89ae4 <6388409b711eb91b14fa075a4d861ccc4df1cfe7
- Affected versionversion=a9a37ec33a1b3e66b260ac1c29bff0aec8b89ae4 <7021acc84c2e0add77a1a33152e3a1e428fdbfdb
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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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
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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