Memory corruption via premature overlay property linking
Published Oct 18, 2026 · Updated Oct 18, 2026
Double-free in Linux Devicetree overlays allows attackers to corrupt kernel memory via a failed property-add operation. In add_changeset_property(), early deadprops insertion leaves a freed property reachable after of_changeset_add_property() fails; of_node_release() subsequently frees it again. Triggering requires overlay processing to reach this failure path; required attacker privileges and consequences beyond memory corruption are not established.
Summary
What happened
Double-free in Linux Devicetree overlays allows attackers to corrupt kernel memory via a failed property-add operation. In add_changeset_property(), early deadprops insertion leaves a freed property reachable after of_changeset_add_property() fails; of_node_release() subsequently frees it again. Triggering requires overlay processing to reach this failure path; required attacker privileges and consequences beyond memory corruption are not established.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98855
- Published
- Oct 18, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 18, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- Unavailable
- 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=4.19.49 <4.20
- Affected versionversion=5.0
- Affected versionversion=b52ca352489be8beb7de3a8181509a0deaf72e21
- Affected versionversion=f96278810150fc39085d1872e5b39ea06366d03e <5857035a3b53a4e7b5a0d5a740189901ece0b079
- Affected versionversion=f96278810150fc39085d1872e5b39ea06366d03e <7dc6a769153c0457077a0da4888a00f61e66de15
- Affected versionversion=f96278810150fc39085d1872e5b39ea06366d03e <814f2da6995772c07a7c9c2cc6028b6e3f3ecc9c
- Affected versionversion=f96278810150fc39085d1872e5b39ea06366d03e <d5151496a0a2b19c9c0c7b0ebf86b3de55a8fa3a
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
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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