Bug 2541129 (CVE-2026-98056)

Summary: CVE-2026-98056 kernel: nvme: remove stale namespaces by NSID range during scan
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: ---
Doc Text:
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) driver, which can lead to a Denial of Service (DoS). When scanning for storage namespaces, the driver iterates through gaps between namespace identifiers individually instead of processing only registered devices. A malicious or misconfigured NVMe storage device with sparsely allocated identifiers can force the system into an extensive loop, causing a CPU soft lockup that leaves the system unresponsive.
 Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-09-25 10:50:49 UTC 
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nvme: remove stale namespaces by NSID range during scan

nvme_scan_ns_list() drops the stale namespaces in each gap in the
reported NSID list one NSID at a time. Every iteration calls
nvme_find_get_ns() to look the namespace up and removes it if it is
present. The loop runs once per NSID in the gap rather than once per
namespace actually present.

NSIDs are 32-bit, so a target with a sparse NSID space can make a
single gap spin the loop billions of times with nothing to remove.

  watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#4 stuck for 26s!
  Workqueue: nvme-wq nvme_scan_work [nvme_core]
  RIP: 0010:__srcu_read_unlock+0xb/0x20
  Call Trace:
   nvme_find_get_ns+0x7d/0xb0 [nvme_core]
   nvme_scan_ns_list+0xe8/0x280 [nvme_core]
   nvme_scan_work+0x18a/0x280 [nvme_core]
   process_one_work+0x197/0x380
   worker_thread+0x2fe/0x410
   kthread+0xe0/0x100

Rename nvme_remove_invalid_namespaces() to nvme_remove_nsid_range()
and give it an open (start, end) NSID range. ctrl->namespaces is
sorted by NSID, so the whole gap is dropped in a single walk that
stops once end is reached. This bounds the work by the namespaces
that are present instead of by the size of the gap.
Comment 1 Keith Grant 2026-09-28 23:48:46 UTC 
Upstream advisory:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98056.mbox